Lodovico Gonzaga in Armor, on Horseback [reverse]

c. 1447/1448

Pisanello

Associated Names
Pisanello

Artist, Veronese, c. 1395 - 1455

The sculpture is a relief on a circular bronze medal, showing a mounted figure of a person in armor riding a horse. The horse is detailed with muscles, and the rider is wearing a helmet. The medal has a dark, reddish-brown color with green patina, indicating age. There are additional details on the surface, such as a celestial symbol resembling a sun and a floral motif. An inscription "OPVS PISANI PICTORIS" is integrated into the design. The relief sculpture is raised slightly from the flat disc.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
On View

West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G16

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    bronze

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall (diameter): 10.15 cm (4 in.)
    gross weight: 321.99 gr (0.71 lb.)
    axis: 11:00

  • Accession Number

    1957.14.608.b

Associated Artworks

The image is a bronze medal featuring the profile of a man facing left. He is depicted from the shoulders up, with a pronounced nose, defined jawline, and visible ear. His hair is short or shaved. The man is wearing a period garment or armor with layered sections on the shoulder. There is Latin text inscribed around the profile. The medal has a small hole near the top for hanging. The background is the medal's surface with no distinct imagery beyond the inscribed text.

Lodovico Gonzaga, 1412-1478, 2nd Marquess of Mantua 1444 [obverse]

Pisanello

1447

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Gustave Dreyfus [1837-1914], Paris; his heirs; purchased with the entire Dreyfus collection 9 July 1930 by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris); sold 31 January 1944 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[1] gift 1957 to NGA.
[1] The Duveen Brothers Records document the firm’s sixteen year pursuit and eventual acquisition of the Dreyfus collection, which included paintings, sculptures, small bronzes, medals, and plaquettes. Bequeathed as part of his estate to Dreyfus’ widow and five children (a son and four daughters), who had differing opinions about its disposition, the collection was not sold until after his widow’s death in April 1929. Duveen did not wish to separate Dreyfus’ collection of small bronzes, medals, and plaquettes, and it was sold intact to the Kress Foundation for a price that was met by installment payments every three months. (Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles: reel 301, box 446, folders 3 and 4; reel 302, box 447, folders 1-6; reel 303, box 448, folders 1 and 2; reel 330, box 475, folder 4.) See also George Francis Hill’s discussion "A Note on Pedigrees" in his catalogue, The Gustave Dreyfus Collection: Renaissance Medals, Oxford, 1931: xii, which was commissioned by Duveen Brothers.

Associated Names

Bibliography

2007

  • Pollard, John Graham. Renaissance Medals. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. 2 vols. Washington, 2007: 1:no. 17, repro.

2011

  • Brown, Beverly Louise. "Portraiture in the Courts of Italy." In Renaissance Portraiture from Donatello to Bellini ed. Keith Christiansen and Stefan Weppelmann. Exh. cat. Berlin 2011. New York, 2011: 34, 35, color fig. 15.

Inscriptions

center left: OPVS PISANI / PICTO / RIS

Wikidata ID

Q63815182

You may be interested in

Loading Results