Giulio della Torre come pater familias: autocelebrazione e convenzioni di genere nella medaglia di Beatrice Della Torre

The essay proposes that the medal dedicated by Giulio Della Torre to her daughter Beatrice was struck to celebrate her marriage to Zeno Turchi (1523). Through the medal’s iconography, fashioned on a coin of the Empress Faustina Minor, Giulio Della Torre outlines for Beatrice an image consistent with traditional female virtues. However, in the local context, in which works of art depicting women as an autonomous subject are scanty, this choice appears to be original and can be justified by Giulio’s acquaintance with two remarkable women, such as Laura Brenzoni Schioppo and Margherita Pellegrini.