Map of Italy Threatened by a Dagger [reverse]

c. 1497

Style of Niccolò Fiorentino

Associated Names
Anonymous Artist

Artist

Niccolò Fiorentino

Related Artist, Florentine, 1430 - 1514

The sculpture is a circular medallion depicting an arm emerging from clouds holding a sword pointing downward towards a landscape filled with buildings and structures. The edge of the medallion has an inscription in a stylized script. The sculpture is primarily brown in color, suggesting it is made of a metal like bronze. The details are intricately engraved into the surface, giving it a textured appearance. The medallion is circular, with small figures and structures detailed within, the sword and arm being central elements.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    bronze

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall (diameter): 9.44 cm (3 11/16 in.)
    gross weight: 83 gr (0.183 lb.)
    axis: 12:00

  • Accession Number

    1957.14.876.b

Associated Artworks

The relief portrait is of a man wearing a hooded cloak. The man is in profile, facing left, and has distinct facial features including a prominent nose and pronounced wrinkles. The sculpture is a rich, aged bronze color with variations indicating weathering or intentional patination. The material appears to be metal, likely bronze. There is an uppercase serif inscription around the circular sculpture's edge. The piece resembles a medallion or medal, giving a sense of historical significance. The texture and depth make the subject stand out prominently.

Girolamo Savonarola, 1452-1498, Dominican Preacher [obverse]

Anonymous Artist

1497

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

1953

  • Renaissance Portraits, Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Massachusetts, 1953, no cat.

2014

  • Sanctity Pictured: The Art of the Dominican and Franciscan Orders in Renaissance Italy, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, 2014-2015, no. 50, repro.

Bibliography

2007

  • Pollard, John Graham. Renaissance Medals. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. 2 vols. Washington, 2007: 1:no. 335, repro.

Inscriptions

around circumference: GLADIVS DOMINI SVP[er] TERAM CITO ET VELOCITER

Wikidata ID

Q63847901

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