Giovanna Albizzi, Wife of Lorenzo Tornabuoni [obverse]
1486
Medalist, Florentine, 1430 - 1514


West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G16
Artwork overview
-
Medium
bronze
-
Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall (diameter): 7.9 cm (3 1/8 in.)
gross weight: 166.24 gr (0.366 lb.)
axis: 12:00 -
Accession
1957.14.882.a
Associated Artworks

The Three Graces [reverse]
Niccolò Fiorentino
1486
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
1980
Beyond Nobility: Art for the Private Citizen in the Early Renaissance, Allentown Art Museum, Pennsylvania, 1980-1981, no. 54, repro.
2000
The Power of Appearances: Renaissance and Reformation Portrait Prints, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, 2000, no cat.
2001
Virtue and Beauty: Leonardo's 'Ginevra de' Benci' and Renaissance Portraits of Women, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2001-2002, no. 11, color repro.
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. 288.
1983
Wilson, Carolyn C. Renaissance Small Bronze Sculpture and Associated Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1983: 40, no. 15.
1987
Spencer, John R. "Speculations on the Origins of the Italian Renaissance Medal." Studies in the History of Art 21 (1987):202, repro.
2003
Gregori, Mina, ed. In the Light of Apollo: Italian Renaissance and Greece. 2 vols. Exh. cat. National Gallery and Alexandros Souzos Museum, Athens, 2003-2004: 1:287 IV.8, 288; 2:205. Though the catalogue indicates that this object formed part of the exhibition, it was not lent.
2007
Pollard, John Graham. Renaissance Medals. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. 2 vols. Washington, 2007: 1:no. 325, repro.
2013
Moskowitz, Anita F. Forging Authenticity: Bastianini and the Neo-Renaissance in Nineteenth-Century Florence. Florence, 2013: 59, n. 15.
Inscriptions
around circumference: VXOR LAVRENTII DE TORNABONIS IOANNA ALBIZA
Wikidata ID
Q63847430