Unicorn Before a High Rock [reverse]

second half 16th century

Italian 16th Century

Associated Names
The image shows a relief sculpture on a coin or medallion. The sculpture depicts a landscape with rocky mountains, trees, foliage, a grazing sheep, and a human figure, potentially a shepherd. The material seems to be bronze, with intricate details and a raised three-dimensional appearance. The edge is adorned with a beaded design and lettering.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    bronze//Struck

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall (diameter): 3.97 cm (1 9/16 in.)
    gross weight: 33.16 gr (0.073 lb.)
    axis: 5:00

  • Accession Number

    1957.14.1132.b

Associated Artworks

The image depicts a medallion featuring a sculpted relief of a man's head and upper torso. The subject of the sculpture has a beard, wears a hat draping over his shoulder, and is adorned in attire suggesting a period costume. The medallion is bronze-colored with an antique look. It is inscribed with the text: "FRANCISC I SERRAN COMVM REX." The medallion shows signs of wear and a few cracks around the edges. The relief engraving presents the figure in a dignified and formal manner in a side profile view.

François I, 1494-1547, King of France 1515 [obverse]

Italian 16th Century

1500


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: 2:no. 615, repro.

Inscriptions

around circumference: CHRISTIANAE REIP[ublicae] PROPVGNATORI

Wikidata ID

Q63851283

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