Celio Calcagnini's manuscript

By courtesy of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, this site has obtained permission to publish Celio Calcagnini'sentire manuscript regarding the gold coins present in the Este collection at the time when Ercole II d'Este (1534-1559) was Duke of Ferrara. Themanuscript was drawn up by Celio Calcagnini between 1538 and 1541 and copied by his assistant and executor of his will, Gian Girolamo Monferrato,between 1541 and 1543. This Elenchus is limited to just gold coins, for a total of over 760 pieces, but it was to represent the first volume in thecatalogue of Ercole's entire numismatic collection. The work was never finished, due to Calcagnini's death. The manuscript is conserved today at theEste University Library in Modena (Ms. Lat. 152= alfa. T6.16).

Este Gallery in Modena

Following the collections of Este countermarked coins at the Archaeological Museum of Florence and at the Sforza Castle in Milan, next up is theEste Gallery in Modena. Photographic documentation of the collection has been successfully completed and the data regarding its roughly 300 coins iscurrently being entered into this site's database.

For more information on the Este project, see:
http://www.esteproject.it/