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Vernon Hall, professor of comparative literature at the University of Wisconsin from 1964 to 1980, donated a total of 301 portrait medals between 1970 and 1978. The medals in the Hall collection range from the 15th century to the 20th. However, renaissance and baroque medals comprise the strength of the collection. It includes four contemporary casts of medals by Pisanello, whose subjects are Francesco I Sforza, Leonello d'Este, Sigismondo Malatesta, and Domenico Novello Malatesta. Also to be found among the Italian medals are Amadio da Milano's Niccolò III d'Este, Giulio della Torre's self-portrait, the portrait of Giovanna Albizzi Tornabuoni attributed to Niccolò Fiorentino, and Bombarda's portrait of his wife Leonora. Included among the French medals are Nicolas Leclerc's and Jean de Saint-Priest's portrait of Louis XII and several major casts by Guillaume Dupré. In addition, the collection possesses some fine examples by Hans Reinhart the Elder and Coenraad Bloc.
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