GERMANY. Nürnberg (Stadt). Medal 1584 (Bronze, 41 mm, 19.32 g), on the patrician Paulus Praun (1548-1616). By M. Carl (died 1609), but an old aftercast. PAVLVS•PRAVN•Ao•1584 Draped bust of Paulus Praun to right. Rev. Blank. Archiv für Medaillen- & Plakettenkunde IV, p. 178, 2. Habich 2659. Hohenkubin 117. Rare. Extremely fine.



Paulus Praun was born into a prominent patrician family in Nuremberg and went on to become the head of a highly profitable silk trading enterprise. A devout Catholic, he left his native city during the turmoil of the Reformation and eventually settled in Italy, where he spent the rest of his life, dying in Bologna in 1616.

Praun described himself as having been driven by a passion for collecting from an early age. Over the course of his life, he assembled one of the largest private collections of the 16th century, comprising some 10,000 objects. In contrast to the encyclopedic ambitions of the princely Kunstkammer, his collecting was guided by a more focused aesthetic principle. He restricted himself to the classical fine arts - painting, drawing, and printmaking - supplemented only by sculpture, engraved gems, books, coins and medals.

The model for this medal is among the earliest known works by the talented artist Matthäus Carl, who is believed to have been a native of Augsburg. In 1585, he was granted citizenship in Nuremberg and went on to work not only for prominent patrician families of the city, but also for the Elector of Saxony, the princes of the Palatinate, and many others.