Obverse. Photo © NumisCorner.com
  • 2 Euro 2018, KM# 571, San Marino, 420th Anniversary of Birth of Gian Lorenzo Bernini
  • 2 Euro 2018, KM# 571, San Marino, 420th Anniversary of Birth of Gian Lorenzo Bernini
  • 2 Euro 2018, KM# 571, San Marino, 420th Anniversary of Birth of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Folder (front)
  • 2 Euro 2018, KM# 571, San Marino, 420th Anniversary of Birth of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Folder (back)
Description

Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680) was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was, also and even more prominently, the leading sculptor of his age, credited with creating the Baroque style of sculpture. In addition, he was a painter (mostly small canvases in oil) and a man of the theater: he wrote, directed and acted in plays (mostly Carnival satires), also designing stage sets and theatrical machinery, as well as a wide variety of decorative art objects including lamps, tables, mirrors, and even coaches. As architect and city planner, he designed both secular buildings and churches and chapels, as well as massive works combining both architecture and sculpture, especially elaborate public fountains and funerary monuments and a whole series of temporary structures (in stucco and wood) for funerals and festivals.

Issue date: 20 September 2018

Obverse

Depicts the Bust of Costanza Bonarelli surrounded by the country and painter names, the dates "1598-2018" on the left, mintmark "R" on the right, the initials of the engraver "A.M." below on the left. The coin’s outer ring depicts the 12 stars of the European flag.

The Bust of Costanza Bonarelli is a marble portrait sculpture by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini, created in the 1630s. It is housed in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence, Italy.

The subject of the work is Costanza Bonarelli, with whom he fell in love when her husband was working as Bernini's assistant in 1636. Later, Bernini discovered his brother had also been having a vigorous affair with Costanza. This created tension and led to Bernini assaulting his brother and ordering a slave to harm Costanza (leading to a deep scar on the side of her face), which led Pope Urban VIII to intervene. He advised Bernini to get married, which he did, in 1639, to Caterina Tezio. Their marriage lasted 34 years and produced 11 children. Bernini would remain professional and increasingly religious to the last, when another Pope blessed him on his deathbed.

Engraver: Annalisa Masini

SAN MARINO BERNINI
1598
2018
R
A.M.

Reverse

A geographical map of Western Europe spans the outer ring and inner core on the right side of the coin. The inscription 2 EURO is superimposed over the map of Europe, with the numeral “2” located in an open field representing the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

12 stars are located on the right side of the outer ring, with six stars atop the map of Europe and six stars below it; six vertical stripes cut across the inner core of the coin, visually connecting the upper and lower star segments.

Luc Luycx, a designer at the Royal Belgian Mint, designed the Euro’s common reverse; his initials, LL, are seen on the right side of the design, just under the “O” in “EURO.”

2 EURO
LL

Edge

The sequence "2 ★" repeated six times alternately upright and inverted

2 ★ 2 ★ 2 ★ 2 ★ 2 ★ 2 ★

2 Euro

420th Anniversary of Birth of Gian Lorenzo Bernini

KM# 571
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Non-circulating)
Material Bi-Metallic
Ring Cupronickel
Center Nickel Brass
Weight 8.5 g
Diameter 25.75 mm
Thickness 2.2 mm
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mint
Italian State Mint and Polygraphic Institute (IPZS)

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