Description

Recanati is a town and comune in the Province of Macerata, in the Marche region of Italy. Recanati was founded around 1150 AD from three pre-existing castles. In 1290 it proclaimed itself an independent republic and, in the 15th century, was famous for its international fair. In March 1798 it was conquered by Napoleon Bonaparte.

The elongated historic center extends from one end to the other for over 200 metres and occupies an area of about 35 hectares. Its linear structure distinguishes it from most of the neighboring centers with a concentric plan, in which the inhabited area has extended from a central square. Along the margins of the central road, connecting the ancient housing clusters, there are numerous aristocratic buildings, for the most part on three floors, built by merchants or landowners.

It is the hometown of the tenor Beniamino Gigli and the poet Giacomo Leopardi, which is why the town is known to some as "the city of poetry". Famous medieval Ashkenazi Kabbalist rabbi Menahem Recanati flourished here in the 13th century. Teatro Persiani named after Giuseppe Persiani an opera composer, born in 1799, is located in the town.

Artist: Ettore Lorenzo Frapiccini

Obverse

Depicts a complex of Sant'Agostino with the façade of the church, the cloister, and the bell tower, and, in the foreground, on the right, the coat of arms of the Municipality with a lion rampant, composition attributed to Sansovino; around, above, “REPUBBLICA ITALIANA”; “2016” in exergue; around, on the lower left, the name of the designer “E. L. FRAPICCINI”.

Sant'Agostino is a Gothic-style, Roman Catholic church located on Piazzale Giordani #1 in the town of Recanati.

The church was built in 1270 adjacent to an Augustinian monastery located within the city walls. A century later it was refurbished but still retains the side buttresses in elegant brick. The rounded portal carved in Istrian marble was completed in 1485 by a sculptor, Giovanni di Fiandra using a design by Giuliano da Majano. It is decorated with a statue of St Augustine and Christ Blessing.

The side altarpieces were painted by Filippo Bellini, Pier Simone Fanelli, Felice Damiani, Antonio Calcagni, and traces of frescoes by Giacomo di Nicola da Recanati. The crossing of the church has a small cupola.

Some claim the bell-tower of the church, and not the octagonal town tower, is the inspiration for the tower in Giacomo Leopardi's poem of the Il passero solitario. The poem only states that the sparrow in the poem can see the countryside from this ancient tower.

REPUBBLICA ITALIANA
2016
E. L. FRAPICCINI

Reverse

Depicts a detail from the painting "Recanati Annunciation"; around, on the upper left, “ITALIA DELLE ARTI”; below, in two lines, “RECANATI”, “R” and “5 EURO”.

The Recanati Annunciation (Italian: Annunciazione di Recanati) is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Lorenzo Lotto, executed around 1534 and housed in the Civic Museum of Villa Colloredo Mels, Recanati, Italy.

The painting depicts a bedroom where an Annunciation takes place following an unusual scheme: the angel is on the right, holding a white lily, and has got in from a loggia which opens to a garden (the hortus conclusus). His right arm is pointing at the Father God who has shown in a cloud and is blessing Mary from inside the loggia. Mary is portrayed in the left foreground, looking at the spectator and raising her hands in a surprised gesture.

ITALIA DELLE ARTI
RECANATI
R
5 EURO

Edge

5 Euro

KM# 397
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Non-circulating)
Material Silver
Fineness 0.925
Weight 18 g
Diameter 32 mm
Thickness -
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mint
Italian State Mint and Polygraphic Institute (IPZS)

Related coins

Santa Chiara - Naples

Italy of Arts

Silver, 18 g, ⌀ 32 mm
Anagni

Italy of Arts

Silver, 18 g, ⌀ 32 mm
Campobasso

Italy of Arts

Silver, 18 g, ⌀ 32 mm