Andrea Doria and the Galley

Habich 91-1
VT 34

The medal was made by the engraver Leone Leoni as a sign of thanks to Andrea Doria who liberated him from imprisonment aboard a galley.

Leone Leoni in 1536 left his post at the Ferrara mint on charges of having minted false coins, in 1538, following the arrest of Benvenuto Cellini (who accused him of having attempted to poison him during the imprisonment) was appointed engraver at the papal mint and there too, in 1540, he was accused of having brutally wounded, for reasons of interest, a papal jeweler and was condemned to the amputation of his right hand, this terrible sentence was commuted, through the intercession of some cardinals, during a period of forced labor on the "galleys". A punishment no less harsh as few returned alive from that particular detention at sea due to hardship, fatigue, illness or battles. It was therefore Andrea Doria (at the request of Charles V, Leoni's protector) who mobilized for his release in Genoa in 1541. As an act of thanks for being freed by him from the prison sentence, Leoni engraved this medal, with on one side the bust of Doria and on the other a galley: a racing ship with the Doria banner on the stern, furled sail and rowers with in the foreground a lifeboat with two people on board towed by a dolphin, of which we know three variants:
1) Bust with the legend ANDREAS DORIA P.P. without decoration and back without legend

2) Bust with legend ANDREAS DORIA P.P. with Golden Fleece decoration and back without legend

3) Bust with the legend ANDREAS AVRIA P.P with decoration of the Golden Fleece and back with the legend DO NOT SLEEP HERE CVSTODIT