Bust of Alexander

c. 1500

Florentine 16th Century

Associated Names
Florentine 16th Century

Artist

The sculpture is a medallion featuring a profile portrait of a man with the name "ALESSANDRO" inscribed beside him. The subject is wearing a helmet adorned with intricate designs, including figures of centaurs or mythical creatures. The man is also depicted wearing armor with detailed patterns. The material of the sculpture appears to be bronze, giving it a brownish color with a metallic sheen. The medallion contains a small hole at the top and the details appear in relief, providing depth and texture to the design.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    bronze

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall (oval): 5.58 x 4.61 cm (2 3/16 x 1 13/16 in.)
    gross weight: 55.55 gr (0.122 lb.)

  • Accession Number

    1957.14.165

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: 1:26, no. 49, as fifteenth century.

1931

  • Ricci, Seymour de. The Gustave Dreyfus Collection. Reliefs and Plaquettes. Oxford, 1931: 39, no. 41, pl. 16, as Florentine, 1500 or later.

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: 143, as Florentine 15th Century.

1965

  • Pope-Hennessy, John W. Renaissance Bronzes from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Reliefs, Plaquettes, Statuettes, Utensils and Mortars. London, 1965: 76, no. 261, fig. 53.

1998

  • Vannel, Fiorenza, and Giuseppe Toderi. Medaglie e placchette del Museo Bardini di Firenze. Florence, 1998: 137.

2011

  • Rossi, Francesco. La collezione Mario Scaglia: placchette. 3 vols. Bergamo, 2011: 1:63, under Prototipo, M.3, 64 fig. a.

2014

  • Warren, Jeremy. Medieval and Renaissance Sculpture. A Catalogue of the Collection in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Oxford, 2014: 3:925.

Inscriptions

along right edge: ALISANDRO (Alexander)

Wikidata ID

Q63814735