Written by Antonio Alejandro Piccolo

The historical context leading up to the 1590 Vacant Seat

Between 1590 and 1592, Rome endured a series of extremely difficult years. Harsh winters, famine, and plagues followed one another, claiming the lives of at least sixty thousand people in the city and surrounding areas. To this was added a precarious political situation, which saw the succession of no fewer than four popes within just two years.

Following the death of Sixtus V Peretti (August 27, 1590), Urban VII Castagna was elected (September 15–27, 1590), but died of malaria before he could even be crowned. He was succeeded by Gregory XIV Sfondrati (December 8, 1590 – October 16, 1591), and then by Innocent IX Facchinetti, whose pontificate lasted less than two months (November 3 – December 30, 1591).

On January 30, 1592, Clement VIII Aldobrandini was finally elected pope. His papacy would last thirteen years, until March 3, 1605.

In the first of these troubled years, there were two vacant seat periods just months apart. This term refers to the time during which, following the death of a pope, the governance of the Church is entrusted to the College of Cardinals—presided over by the Camerlengo—until the election of a new pope.

During a vacant seat, whether brief or prolonged, coins are always struck—a prerogative of sovereign power or, in this specific case, of a governing authority.

The Camerlengo for both vacant seat periods of 1590 was Cardinal Enrico Caetani, a member of the powerful Roman family that, some three centuries earlier, had given the Church the notorious Pope Boniface VIII (1294–1303).

The coins minted during the vacant seat

During the two vacant seat periods of 1590—whose coinage issues are indistinguishable from one another—the Roman mint struck giuli, testoni, gold scudi, and an altogether extraordinary coin, minted for the first time in the Eternal City. This was a gold quadrupla, weighing the equivalent of four gold scudi (hence the name), which emerged in the second half of the 16th century following the increasing availability of precious metal from the New World.

In our Auction 7 – Benatti Collection, we presented the only known specimen of this coin ever offered at public auction—a piece of the utmost rarity.

Auction 7 – Benatti Collection, Lot 1537, Vacant seat (1590) Quadrupla 1590 – MIR 1 AU (g 13,23) RRRRR

In the years preceding, this high-value gold denomination had already made its appearance in papal coinage: Gregory XIII Boncompagni (1572–1585) had the very first papal gold quadrupla minted in his native city of Bologna, while Sixtus V issued similar pieces in Ancona.

The Vacant seat quadrupla of 1590 features on the obverse the crossed keys with the papal umbrella (umbraculum) at the center; below is the Caetani coat of arms. Around the edge, the legend reads: SEDE VACANT[E] 1590.

On the reverse, we find a refined Mannerist-style depiction: the miraculous liberation of Saint Peter by an angel, accompanied by a Latin legend that translates to “God sent His angel.”

In the balanced and harmonious composition of figures within the coin’s circular field, the engraver captured all the urgent dynamism of the event: the angel, wings spread and garments billowing in the wind, assists Peter in escaping the narrow prison where he had been held by Herod. To walk more easily and avoid tripping, the saint is shown lifting his robes with his left hand.

The scene, taken from Acts of the Apostles, chapter 12, subtly alludes to the divine intervention hoped for in the face of the complex social, health, and political crisis of the time when the coin was struck.

Alongside the quadrupla, an equally magnificent testone of the same type was also minted—of which, in recent years, a specimen from the collection of the renowned Neapolitan numismatist Giuseppe De Falco has appeared at auction.

The beauty of these mintings clearly explains the title we chose for this post.

See also:

• The catalogue of Auction 7 – Benatti Collection
• The press release of Auction 7 – Benatti Collection