Cosimo de' Medici, 1389-1464, Pater Patriae [obverse]

probably 1465/1469

Cast in low relief, a cleanshaven man with a lined face and sagging jowls faces our left in profile on this round bronze medallion. His long nose points down at the end and wrinkles line his forehead. The corner of his mouth that we see is turned slightly down. His short hair is mostly covered by a brimless cap that flares slightly out away from the crown, and he wears a high-necked garment. An inscription around the perimeter of the medallion reads, “COSMVS MEDICE S DECRETO PVBLICO PP.”

Media Options

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On View

West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G16

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    bronze

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall (diameter): 7.83 cm (3 1/16 in.)
    gross weight: 148.19 gr (0.327 lb.)
    axis: 12:00

  • Accession

    1957.14.840.a

Associated Artworks

Florence Holding an Orb and Triple Olive Branch [reverse]

Florentine 15th Century

1465

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

Exhibition History

1985

  • Italian Renaissance Sculpture in the Time of Donatello, Detroit Institute of Arts; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth; Forte Belvedere, Florence, 1985-1986, no. 51 (English cat.), no. 85 (Italian cat.), repro.

2000

  • The Power of Appearances: Renaissance and Reformation Portrait Prints, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, 2000, no cat.

Bibliography

1967

  • Hill, George Francis, and Graham Pollard. Renaissance Medals from the Samuel H. Kress Collection at the National Gallery of Art. London, 1967: no. 246.

1983

  • Wilson, Carolyn C. Renaissance Small Bronze Sculpture and Associated Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1983: 33, no. 14.

1991

  • Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 181, color repro.

1994

  • Pernis, Maria Grazia. "Fifteenth-Century Patrons and the Scipio-Caesar Controversy." Text 6 (1994): 183, 184 fig. 1.

1999

  • Dempsey, Charles. "Portraits and Masks in the Art of Lorenzo de' Medici, Botticelli, and Politian's Stanze per la Giostra." _Renaissance Quarterly 52:1 (Spring 1999): 21, 23, fig. 13.

2007

  • Pollard, John Graham. Renaissance Medals. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. 2 vols. Washington, 2007: 1:no. 280, repro.

Inscriptions

around circumference: COSMVS MEDICES DECRETO PVBLICO P[ater] P[atriae]

Wikidata ID

Q63847564

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