Springing Unicorn and Tau Cross [reverse]

c. 1480/1486

Niccolò Fiorentino

Associated Names
Niccolò Fiorentino

Artist, Florentine, 1430 - 1514

This is an image of a round, aged medallion or token. The medallion features a raised design of a unicorn in profile, prancing with its head held high, placed at the center. The unicorn is bordered by a decorative laurel wreath which encircles the entire medallion. Above the unicorn, near the top center, is a prominent letter "T" inscribed. The medallion is made of a metallic material that shows signs of oxidation, giving it a patina of a reddish-brown hue, with some verdigris visible around the edges and in recesses. There's a small hole near the top.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    bronze

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall (diameter): 3.95 cm (1 9/16 in.)
    gross weight: 30.67 gr (0.068 lb.)
    axis: 1:00

  • Accession Number

    1957.14.853.b

Associated Artworks

The sculpture is a side profile relief of a man's head, depicted in a classical style with distinct facial features such as a prominent nose and a curled hairstyle or headpiece around his head. The sculpture is made of bronze, giving it a warm brown color with slight variations. It is set on a circular medallion with an inscription encircling the profile. There is a hole at the top, indicating it may have been designed to be worn or displayed as a pendant. The details of the face and text are finely worked, reflecting careful craftsmanship.

Guglielmo Batonatti [obverse]

Niccolò Fiorentino

1480

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. 294, repro.

Inscriptions

upper center tau-cross:

Wikidata ID

Q63847743

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