| Description : Giovanni Boccaccio (1313‐1375) was an Italian writer,
poet, democrat and important representative of humanism from Florence. His masterpiece, the Decamerone, is a
collection of one hundred novellas written between 1349 and 1353 ‐ a style‐defining work that became the model
for almost all other Western novella collections. It portrays the multifaceted society of the 14th century with
hitherto unknown realism and wit, and elevates Boccaccio to the status of founder of the prose narrative tradition in
Europe. The portrait is from a fresco on wood by Andrea del Castagno (∼1418‐1457) painted around 1450, the coin
design is the work of Roberto Mauri. At the bottom, "BOCCACCIO" and the dates "1313" and "2015" are written in the
shape of an arc, on the right the "R" the mint mark of the Italian mint Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato in
Rome is depicted, the ligature of the country "RI" (Repubblica Italiana, Italian Republic) and "m" as the designer's signet. |
