La città nelle mani del santo: studi di iconografia monetale

This paper deals with a specific iconography of saints on some medieval Italian coins, consisting in the figure of the saint holding a model of the city or somehow associated to some architectural features referring to the city. Saints were a common theme on Italian medieval coins, especially bishop saints as founders of the Christian civitas. New saints were eventually represented on coins issued by seigniorial authorities, and at the same time a new iconographic scheme was developed significantly in seigniorial coinages (i.e. Padua, Pesaro, Camerino, Modena, Asti), where the local saint, bishop or martyr, was represented holding a model of the city in his hand.