| Description : After the one already issued by San Marinos, this is the
second commemorative coin celebrating the 450th birthday of Michelangelo Merisis da Caravaggio (1571‐1610). The
Italian painter of the early Baroque period with his realistic pictorial design is considered ‐ together with Annibale
Carracci ‐ to have overcome Mannerism and to be the founder of Roman Baroque painting. His most important painting
innovation was the chiaroscuro painting. Chiara Principe chose the painting Fanciullo con canestro di frutta
(Boy with Fruit Basket, which today is exhibited in the Galleria Borghese in Rome) created by Caravaggio in 1593, as the
motif for the coin she designed. The model was 16‐year‐old Mario Minniti, who later became a Baroque painter in
Sicily. The masterfully depicted fruit mirrors the horticulture of the time, right down to the pests that left their mark
on fruit and leaves. Depicted from left to right are grapes of different colours, apples and figs, small pears on a branch,
a peach overflowing with light red, two medlars, red seeds of a broken pomegranate and two quinces, together with dark
peach leaves, vine leaves and two stalks with mint leaves. The reason for the issue, including the year of birth and year
of issue, are noted in two lines at the bottom of the bottom on the coin: "CARAVAGGIO 1571‐2021", and the issuing
country "CITTÁ DEL VATICANO" (Vatican City) at the top. On the left is the initial "R", the mint mark of the Italian
mint Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato in Rome, on the lower right are the stylised initials "CP" of the
designer together with the mark "UP.INC." (INC. = Incisore / Engraver) of the engraver Uliana Pernazza above it. |
