Michelangelo
One of the most famous protagonists in European art history celebrates his 550th birthday on March 6, the painter, sculptor, master builder (architect) and poet Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564).
At the beginning of the 1960s, the Banca d'Italia issued a new series of banknotes designed by the graphic artist Fiorenzo Masino Bessi. Portraits of “great Italians” by Giuseppe Verdi (music), Raphael (painting) and Michelangelo (sculpture and architecture) were chosen. Later, Raphael was replaced by the explorer Christopher Columbus. From this series onwards, the lire notes, which had previously had a decorative or graphically reduced design, took on a new visual language: important personalities from the past now served as an ideal projection screen for the present. The first note in this series was the one on Michelangelo, which was issued in 1962.
Based on two painted portraits, the one on the banknote presents Michelangelo inscribed in an oval field in three-quarter profile to the left (and thus simultaneously in mirrored form). He is wearing a black coat with a white shirt underneath, the point of the collar standing out at the neck. In particular, the prominent wrinkles on his face and his facial expressions show parallels to the painted portraits, which are thus reformulated. The portrait on the banknote is thus a “reinterpretation” of the visual tradition of Michelangelo. It is the result of two painted depictions and at the same time a new portrait through the use of copper engraving. Massino Bessi's signature below the oval field is evidence of the reinterpretation.
A watermark in the second oval field, which shows the head of the statue of David in Florence and thus one of the artist's major works, serves as a security feature.
The central motif on the reverse is the architectural view of the Capitoline Square (Piazza del Campidoglio), the design of which goes back to Michelangelo's design.
The 10000 lire note was in circulation from 1962 to 1973.
Image: Banca d'Italia, 10000 lire banknote, 1962-1973, MK PG 39123
