Popstar vs. Pilgrim
The reverse shows the picture of an older man with a staff, walking while being led by a dog. He is barefoot and dressed only in a coat. Below his feet the implied rocky landscape is visible. In the background are some trees.
Compared to the portrait on the obverse we can say that it is Michelangelo himself depicted as a blind old man. One of the most popular and well-known artists of his time is shown as an old blind beggar, led by a dog and with only a water bottle in his possession! Imagine that his most important instrument - his eyesight - has been lost. Why is he portrayed like this?
It seems that Michelangelo actually liked this idea. In his biography of Michelangelo GIorgio Vasari wrote following sentence:
“With complacency from him he made the reverse showing a blind man led by a dog” (translated by Xenia Goldtmann)
This sentence gives us two clues: Michelangelo was indeed depicted as a blind pilgrim and he may have been involved in the development of this image himself . What we know for sure is that MIchelangelo became very religious in his later years and that humility is one of the important Christian virtues. His approaching death was a theme that preoccupied him a great deal - you can see this in the large number of sonnets Michelangelo wrote.
If you zoom in close enough to this image, you can see that in our example the eyes of the pilgrim are open. Other medals show him to be blind. If you want to read more about different versions of this medal, continue to read here: