Minerva Resting on a Spear and Shield [reverse]

c. 1494/1495

Style of Niccolò Fiorentino

Associated Names
Niccolò Fiorentino

Related Artist, Florentine, 1430 - 1514

The image shows a relief sculpture on a circular medallion. The sculpture features a woman in robes and a peaked helmet holding a spear upright in her left hand, and a shield with a face in her right hand. The sculpture appears to be made of bronze or a similar metal, with brownish coloration and areas of wear. The figure is in a dynamic pose, with engraved inscriptions around the edge.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    bronze

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall (diameter): 5.04 cm (2 in.)
    gross weight: 61.42 gr (0.135 lb.)
    axis: 12:00

  • Accession Number

    1957.14.861.b

Associated Artworks

The sculpture is a bas-relief on a circular medallion featuring a profile portrait of a man. The subject appears to be an older man with a defined nose and chin, wearing a flat cap and a garment with detailed folds around the neck. His hair is depicted as wavy and falls just above shoulder length. The material of the sculpture appears to be metal, likely bronze, judging by its dark brown color with lighter highlights in the raised areas. The inscription around the edge of the medallion reads "HERCVLES DUX" along the left side. The entire sculpture is detailed and the person portrayed seems prominent, as denoted by the medallion's stylized representation.

Ercole I d'Este, 1431-1505, Duke of Ferrara, Modena, and Reggio 1471 [obverse]

Anonymous Artist

1494


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. 304, repro.

Inscriptions

around top circumference: MINERVA

Wikidata ID

Q63847867

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