A Centaur

15th century

Florentine 15th Century

Associated Names
Florentine 15th Century

Artist

The sculpture shows a centaur rearing on its hind legs. It is made of dark brown material, possibly bronze, and features shallow relief work for detailing. The centaur holds a long stick or staff and exhibits animated facial features. The sculpture is set on an oval background with a hole at the top and decorative swirling patterns around the centaur.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    bronze//Medium brown patina

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall (oval): 4.89 × 4.09 cm (1 15/16 × 1 5/8 in.)
    gross weight: 45.94 gr (0.101 lb.)

  • Accession Number

    1957.14.158

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Gustave Dreyfus [1837-1914], Paris; his estate; purchased 1930 by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York); purchased 1945 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York; gift 1957 to NGA.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1886

  • Molinier, Émile. Les Bronzes de la Renaissance. Les Plaquettes; Catalogue Raisonné. 2 vols. Paris, 1886: 1:11-12, no. 20.

1931

  • Ricci, Seymour de. The Gustave Dreyfus Collection. Reliefs and Plaquettes. Oxford, 1931: 34, no. 34, pl. 15, as Florentine.

1951

  • Renaissance Bronzes: Statuettes, Reliefs and Plaquettes, Medals and Coins from the Kress Collection. Introduction by Perry B. Cott. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1951: 142, as Florentine.

1965

  • Pope-Hennessy, John W. Renaissance Bronzes from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Reliefs, Plaquettes, Statuettes, Utensils and Mortars. London, 1965: 75, no. 255, fig. 46.

1973

  • Dacos, Nicole. "Saggio di inventario delle opere ispirate da gemme Medici nel Rinascimento." In Nicole Dacos, Antonio Giuliano, and Ulrico Pannuti, eds. Il Tesoro di Lorenzo il Magnifico. 2 vols. Exh. cat. Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence, 1973: 1:161, no. 11, section C, fig. 71.

1980

  • Dacos, Nicole. "Saggio di inventario delle opere ispirate da gemme Medici nel Rinascimento." In Nicole Dacos, et al. Il Tesoro di Lorenzo il Magnifico: Repertorio delle gemme e dei vasi. Florence, 1980: 113, no. 11, section C, fig. 71.

1989

  • Rossi, Francesco. "Le Gemme Antiche e le Origini della Placchetta." In Italian Plaquettes. Douglas Lewis, ed. Studies in the History of Art 22, Symposium Papers 9 (1989): 59, fig. 6, as Florentine.

1998

  • Avery, Charles, Marzia Ratti, and Angela Acordon, eds. Sculture: bronzetti, placchette, medaglie. Museo Civico Amedeo Lia, La Spezia. [Cinisello Balsamo], 1998: 261, no. 179.

2001

  • Lewis, Douglas. “Rehabilitating a Fallen Athlete: Evidence for a Date of 1453/1454 in the Veneto for the Bust of a Platonic Youth by Donatello.” In Small Bronzes in the Renaissance. Debra Pincus, ed. Studies in the History of Art 62, Symposium Papers 39 (2001): 35, fig. 7.

2011

  • Rossi, Francesco. La collezione Mario Scaglia: placchette. 3 vols. Bergamo, 2011: 1:36, under Variante A, M.21, as Roman, after the antique, third quarter of the fifteenth century.

Wikidata ID

Q63814729