Italy

2013

Commemorative coin

700th anniversary of the birth of Giovanni Boccaccio

Official Journal of the European Union

The design shows the head of Giovanni BOCCACCIO in three quarter view facing right, drawn from the fresco by Andrea del Castagno, around 1450 ca. (Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi); around, on the bottom, BOCCACCIO 1313 2013; on the right, superimposed letters R (monogram of the Mint of Rome)/RI (monogram of Italian Republic)/m (monogram of the Author Mauri). The coin’s outer ring depicts the 12 stars of the European flag.

Additional information

Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) was an Italian writer, poet, democrat and important representative of humanism from Florence. His masterpiece, the Decamerone, is a collection of one hundred novellas written between 1349 and 1353 - a style-defining work that became the model for almost all other Western novella collections. It portrays the multifaceted society of the 14th century with hitherto unknown realism and wit, and elevates Boccaccio to the status of founder of the prose narrative tradition in Europe. The portrait is taken from a fresco by Andrea del Castagno (~1418-1457) painted on wood around 1450.

Edge lettering

Designer