Obverse. Photo © NumisCorner.com
  • 2 Euro 2019, Italy, 500th Anniversary of Death of Leonardo Da Vinci
  • 2 Euro 2019, Italy, 500th Anniversary of Death of Leonardo Da Vinci
Description

On May 2, 2019, Italy and the world honour the day, 500 years ago, when Leonardo da Vinci died.

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (1452–1519), more commonly Leonardo da Vinci or simply Leonardo, was an Italian polymath of the Renaissance, whose areas of interest included invention, painting, sculpting, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, writing, history, and cartography. He has been variously called the father of palaeontology, ichnology, and architecture, and is widely considered one of the greatest painters of all time. Sometimes credited with the inventions of the parachute, helicopter and tank, he epitomised the Renaissance humanist ideal.

Leonardo was, and is, renowned primarily as a painter. Among his works, the Mona Lisa is the most famous and most parodied portrait and The Last Supper the most reproduced religious painting of all time. Leonardo's drawing of the Vitruvian Man is also regarded as a cultural icon, being reproduced on items as varied as the euro coin, textbooks, and T-shirts.

Obverse

Depicts a detail of the oil painting known as Dama con l’ermellino (Lady with an Ermine). In the left-hand field of the inner disc, the name “Leonardo”, the acronym of the engraver MAC and the RI monogram of the Italian Republic. In the right field the mint mark R and respectively the year of Leonardo’s death and the year of issue. Around the outer ring the 12 stars of the European Union.

"Lady with an Ermin" (1489–1490) is a painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. The portrait's subject is Cecilia Gallerani, painted at a time when she was the mistress of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, and Leonardo was in the Duke's service. It is one of only four portraits of women painted by Leonardo, the others being the Mona Lisa, the portrait of Ginevra de' Benci, and La belle ferronnière. The painting was purchased in 2016 from the Czartoryski Foundation by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage for the National Museum in Kraków, and has been on display in the museum's main building since 2017. It is one of Poland's national treasures.

Engraver: Maria Angela Cassol

LEONARDO
RI R
1519
2019
M.A.C.

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 ★

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Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (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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500th Anniversary of Death of Leonardo Da Vinci

Bi-Metallic, 8.5 g, ⌀ 25.75 mm