Commemoration of the Great Armada: Philip II - Emblem with orb and yoke
Ca. 1586. Bronze.Not on display
The medal is related to the Spanish Armada, the naval fleet that in 1588, within the so-called Anglo-Spanish War of 1585–1604, Philip II sent to invade England. It was also known as the Invincible Armada. Made of cast bronze, with pearled edges.
The obverse bears the inscription ‘PHILIPPVS . II . D . G . HISP . REX’ surrounded by a dotted milling, as well as a bust of Philip II in profile to the right, with his head uncovered, short hair and a pointy-ending long beard. He wears a tight ruff and armour, and he bears the insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Under the obverse bust is the signature ‘IAC . TRICI . F’, which would correspond to the Milanese sculptor Jacopo da Trezzo (Latinised as Tricius).
On the reverse the letters ‘SIC . ERAT . IN . FATIS’ (Thus it was written by Fate) can be read. Two hands appear knotting or untying a yoke on an orb, a possible reference to the failure of an enterprise and to the unfulfilled ambition of the King of Castile (the heart of his realm) for universal dominion, epitomized by the yoke from the time of his great-grandmother, Queen Isabella. The medal belongs to the series of the Spanish Armada.
The Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial keeps a copy of this medal, as do the Real Academia de la Historia [Royal Academy of History] (p. 51) and the Museo Lázaro Galdiano (inv. p. 1897). The attribution to the artist Trezzo is supported by the fact that it is one of the two hundred and seventy bronze medals that were placed in the tabernacle of the basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, for which Trezzo was paid 38 ducats.
This medal must be dated to around 1586, coinciding with Philip II´s payment to Trezzo for his medals for El Escorial. Trezzo´s activity under the service of Philip II dates from 1555 to 1589.
