Life and death of S. Longino

The Legend

The Pilgrim's hospital

INCISION OF THE RELIQUARY OF THE HOLY BLOOD ON MANTUAN COINS

In1433 the Emperor Sigismondo raised Gian Francesco Gonzaga, already V Captain of the People and Imperial Vicar, to the title of First Marquis of Mantua.

To give lustre to the event and to affirm the economic standing of the small Mantuan state, the new Marquis ordered an oversized silver coin to be cast. On the front appeared the crest of four eagles representing the coat-of-arms he had received from the Emperor and on the reverse, the Pyx, or Reliquary of the Holy Blood of Christ (fig 1).

The Pyx is positioned at the centre of an idealised vision of Mantua, with towers, steeples, bridges, turreted buildings and the gently flowing waters of the lakes. The image on the reverse was highly unusual for coins cast in that period in the surrounding states which were only just beginning to employ the art of incision, and gained the attention and prestige Gian Francesco was hoping to gain for Mantua.

This monetary image of the Pyx was continuously repeated by the successors of Gian Francesco until the rule of Charles II Gonzaga Nevers (1647-1665).

Under the 2^nd Marquis, Lodovico II, the Pyx is depicted first in Gothic and then in Renaissance style as it appeared on the 'mezzo-testone or container' (fig 2) and repeated on the 'Duchys in gold' by Federico 1 and Francesco II ,who initially held the title of 5^th Marquis and then 1^st Duke of Mantua and first Marquis of Monferrato, where the Pyx appears placed on an altar (fig. 3) or held by two hands supporting the base, or with Saint Longino knelt on his knees holding it up to Saint Andrew.

Fig. 3

This image was copied again by Francesco III and by the dukes Guglielmo and Ferdinando. Of the latter there are the double and quarto versions in gold representing two renowned works by Gasparo Molo and Andrea Borgatti, experts in the art of monetary incision . They depict the Pyx held by two angels or with Saint Longino holding the arrow in his left hand and the Pyx in his outstretched right hand. Under Vincenzo II , for the first and only time during the rule of the Gonzagas, a coin was cast depicting two pyxes; one showing the earth stained with Christ's blood and the other the cloth soaked in gall and vinegar as given to Christ whilst dying on the Cross. Examples of these coins are still conserved today in Saint Andrew's Basilica in Mantua.

During the siege of Mantua in 1629-1630 shields and half-shields were cast depicting Saint Andrew with the Cross resting on his right shoulder and his left hand outstretched holding up the Pyx as if to implore Divine Mercy for the city, which was by now at the end of its strength from illness and hunger and no longer able to defend itself. The city was about to be set to sword and fire and was to undergo the horrors and cruelty of soldiers from Aldringen.

It is well known that coins dating from the period of the Gonzagas document the history of Mantua. Similarly coins from the period depicting the Pyx testify to the faith of the people, that same faith which flows from the two splendid reliquaries created by Bellezza in the last century and conserved in the magnificent Basilica of Saint Andrew. And it is the same faith which the people of Mantua still hold in their hearts in the approach to the third millennium.

Giuseppe Margini