suggesting he had a commission for a painting or fresco for the Este residence. Pisanello thus became the inventor of the fields of portrait medals and related medallic art. During his lifetime Pisanello was best known for his medals. He has been copied many times in later generations. The medalist art declined when it deviated from the art of Pisanello. Before him, the few medals made were struck like minted coins. Pisanello, on the other hand, melted his medals the same as a bronze low-relief, clearly showing the work of a painter and a modeller. He even signed his medals with Opus Pisani pictoris (made by the painter Pisano). In his view, the portraits in his medals equal the portraits in his paintings. He even adds allegories at the reverse of his medals, such as the unicorn in the Cecilia Gonzaga medal, underlying the noble character of the princess. Political unrest In 1438, a war broke out between the ruler of Milan Filippo Maria Visconti and the republic of Venice. Pisanello was in Mantua with Gianfancresco Gonzaga. They decided to play a part in the capture of Verona. Consequently, the Venetian government called him a rebel and threatened him with a stiff sentence. Only an intercession by a powerful friend could preserve him. After a stay in Milan between 1440 and 1441, Pisanello went back to Ferrara in 1441. There he painted his acclaimed portrait of Lionello d'Este, now on display at the Accademia Carrara, Bergamo. His Madonna and Child with Two Saints (National Gallery, London) probably dated from the same period. The impressive fresco cycle Scenes of War and Chivalry in the Palazzo Ducale di Mantova, Mantua probably dates from 1447. Later life From December 1448 until the end of his life he lived in Naples, where he enjoyed great repute at the Aragon court. The poet Porcellio even wrote an ode in his honour. He may have lived five or six years longer, but there is no more mention of him in the records. Legacy Specimens of Pisanello's work as a painter still exist in Rome, Venice, Verona, Pistoia and two in the National Gallery, London (The Vision of Saint Eustace and The Virgin and Child with Saint George and Saint Anthony Abbot). Many of his drawings can now be found at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, Italy and the Louvre, Paris. Pisanello influenced many of his contemporaries,