Pegasus [reverse]

c. 1485

Niccolò Fiorentino

Associated Names
Niccolò Fiorentino

Artist, Florentine, 1430 - 1514

The image shows a relief carving of a Pegasus on a circular medallion. The Pegasus is depicted in a dynamic pose with wings spread and front hooves raised. The sculpture features detailed craftsmanship, including the Pegasus's mane and wings. The material appears to be a reddish-brown metal, possibly bronze. There is a Latin inscription around the edge that reads "GEMINIO DICATVM." The medallion is set against a black background.

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Artwork overview

Associated Artworks

The sculpture is a relief portrait of a man in profile view facing left. He has long wavy hair and wears a hat covering the upper part of his head. The relief is circular with an inscription reading "GEMINIANO S. ART." The material appears to be bronze or a similar metal, with a warm brown color and darker areas indicating age. The surface is textured with shading for depth. The portrait has a classical appearance often seen in historical medallions, imbuing the figure with dignity and prominence. The craftsmanship details the subject's features and attire, making it visually compelling.

Girolamo Ridolfi of San Gimignano, 1465-1526, Apostolic Secretary, Consistorial Advocate, and Knight of the Golden Spur [obverse]

Niccolò Fiorentino

1485

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Ratton & Ladrière, Paris), by 1986;[1] purchased 1987 by Alexandre Rosenberg, New York; by inheritance to his wife, Mrs. Elaine Rosenberg, New York; gift 1991 to NGA.
[1] Six specimens of the medal were recorded in 1930, of which two were then in private collections. The NGA medal is likely one of these two, either that in the collection of Aloïss Heiss of Paris or the one owned by Pozzi that had been sold in Paris by Feuardent and Sambon in 1919 (George Francis Hill, A Corpus of the Italian Medals of the Renaissance before Cellini, 2 vols., London, 1930: 1:no. 940, probably e or f).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1994

  • The Currency of Fame: Portrait Medals of the Renaissance, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The Frick Collection, New York; National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1994-1995, no. 43, repro.

Bibliography

2007

  • Pollard, John Graham. Renaissance Medals. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. 2 vols. Washington, 2007: 1:no. 297, repro.

2008

  • Pfisterer, Ulrich. Lysippus und seine Freunde: Liebesgaben und Gedächtnis im Rom der Renaissance, oder, Das erste Jahrhundert der Medaille. Berlin, 2008: 65, fig. 23.

Inscriptions

around circumference reverse: .GEMINIO.DICATVM.

Wikidata ID

Q63860990

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