Plaquettes 1400-1550

'Abundance', plaquette

'Abundance'
Plaquette
Italy (Florence)
About 1450-1500
Bronze
Museum no. 271-1864

This was cast from an amethyst intaglio carving in the collection of Cardinal Pietro Barbo. It was presumably commissioned by Barbo himself as it shows his coat of arms on the rim.

'A Battle Scene', cast

A Battle Scene
Cast
Italy (Florence)
1550-1600
Bronze
Museum no. A.404-1910

This is a cast from an antique gem. The same composition occurs in an engraving by Enea Vico, who recorded many gems and cameos from classical antiquity.

'St George and the Dragon', plaquette

St George and the Dragon
Plaquette
Probably by Giovanni Francesco Enzola (active 1455-78)
North Italy
About 1475-1500
Bronze
Museum no. A.457-1910

Enzola was the Master of the Mint in Ferrara. This plaquette is cast from the impression of the episcopal seal of Lorenzo Roverella, Bishop of Ferrara from 1460 to 1474.

'A Battle of Centaurs and Lapiths', plaquette

A Battle of Centaurs and Lapiths
Plaquette
Cristoforo Foppa, called Caradosso (about 1452-1527)
Italy (probably Milan)
About 1500-20
Bronze
Museum no. 756-1864

 

Caradosso served at the Milanese court of Ludovico Sforza ('Il Moro') from 1480 and became his personal goldsmith and jeweller. Copies of this plaquette were 'admired with the utmost enthusiasm throughout Italy.' A silver version formed part of a casket and the design also appeared in architecture.

'The Entombment', plaquette Andrea Briosco

'The Entombment'
Plaquette
Andrea Briosco, called Riccio (1470-1532)
Italy (Padua)
1450-1500
Bronze
Museum no. 6979-1860

This composition exists in a number of examples. It bears close resemblance to the monumental bronze candlestick Riccio made for the Basilica of St Anthony, Padua, from which he developed many of his small bronzes.

'The Sacrifice of a Swine', plaquette

'The Sacrifice of a Swine'
Plaquete
Andrea Briosco, called Riccio (1470-1532)
Italy (Padua)
About 1475-1500
Bronze
Museum no. A.415-1910
Salting Bequest

Several examples of this relief survive. The design resembles an engraving of the same subject by Girolamo Mocetto, an artist who was contemporary to Riccio. It is not clear whether the engraving is the source of the relief, or whether both derive from a classical origin.

'The Fall of Phaeton', plaquette

'The Fall of Phaeton'
Plaquette
After Galeazzo Mondella, called Moderno (1467-1528)
North Italy
About 1475-1500
Bronze
Museum no. A.434-1910
Salting Bequest

This plaquette is based on a Renaissance cameo though it appears in a number of variants. It shows Phaeton, son of Helios, the sun god. Phaeton's attempt to drive his father's chariot ended in disaster when he set fire to the earth and tumbled into the River Po.

'Saint Jerome', plaquette

Saint Jerome
Plaquette
Ulocrino (active about 1485-1530)
Italy (Padua)
About 1500-25
Bronze
Museum no. A.421-1910
Salting Bequest

The saint is shown here with his usual companion, the lion.

'The Presentation of Christ in the Temple', plaquette

'The Presentation of Christ in the Temple'
Plaquette
Valerio Belli (1468-1564)
Italy
After 1532
Bronze
Museum no. 7371-1861

Belli spent the most important part of his career in Rome, working for two successive popes. This signed plaquette is taken from a rock-crystal plaque that formed part of a casket completed for Clement VII in 1532. It would have come from a plaster or sulphur cast of the original image.

'Christ and the Woman Taken into Adultery', mould

Christ and the Woman Taken into Adultery
Matrix (mould)
Valerio Belli (1468-1564)
Italy (Rome)
About 1500-50
Bronze; incuse matrix
Museum no. M.197-1929

This is a matrix (mould) for a plaquette that formed part of a casket which Belli made for Pope Clement VII in 1532. Most of Belli's plaquettes were based on his hardstone engravings. However, the existence of matrices suggests that he may have made designs specially for reproduction.

'A Bacchanal of Children', plaquette

A Bacchanal of Children
Plaquette
Italy (possibly Padua)
About 1500
Bronze
Museum no. A.419-1910
Salting Bequest

The rimmed edges on independent plaquettes such as this suggest that they originally formed part of a larger casket. This one is an impression taken from a triangular sandbox used for sprinkling sand on to ink to dry.

'Five Putti at Play', plaquette

Five Putti at Play
Plaquette
Italy (possibly Florence)
About 1450-1500
Bronze
Museum no. 81-1891

This frequently encountered plaquette has bevelled edges which suggests that it was perhaps part of a casket or sandbox. It may have been associated with a papal gift as the original terracotta matrix was found during the 1876 excavations of the Palazzo Venezia in Rome, the palace of Pope Paul II.

'The Death of Marcus Curtius', plaquette

The Death of Marcus Curtius
Plaquette
Possibly by Galeazzo Mondella, called Moderno (1467-1528)
North Italy
About 1500
Bronze
Museum no. A.450-1910
Salting Bequest

The faint piercings on the edge of this unusual plaquette suggest that it might have been a badge for a gentleman's hat. The image illustrates the legend of a Roman soldier who hurled himself into a sudden chasm in the Forum watched by comrades and elders. The pit then closed to form a pond.

'Mucius Scaevola', plaquette

Mucius Scaevola
Plaquette
After a design by the Master IOFF (active about 1500)
Italy
About 1500
Bronze
Museum no. 257-1898

The fashion for swords decorated with elaborate pommels was at its height around 1500. This shield-shaped plaquette was almost certainly designed for this purpose. Mucius Scaevola was a hero of Roman legend who thrust his hands into flames as proof of his courage. In the Renaissance period he represented patience and constancy.

'The Judgement of Solomon', plaquette

The Judgement of Solomon
Plaquette
Possibly by Galeazzo Mondella, called Moderno (1467-1528)
North Italy
About 1504-7
Bronze
Museum no. A.432-1910
Salting Bequest

This delicate and unusually shaped plaquette originally formed part of an oil lamp, perhaps for the desk of a scholar. The subject was symbolic of Justice. It shows the Old Testament king, Solomon, deciding which of the two women was the mother of the child.

'St Jerome', Giovanni Francesco Enzola

St Jerome
Plaquette
Giovanni Francesco Enzola (active 1465-75)
Italy
About 1460-70
Bronze
Museum no. A.41-1921
Currie Bequest

The image of St Jerome in the wilderness is based on a Ferrarese engraving from about 1470-80. Many plaquettes were derived from prints, but they also served to circulate the designs further afield.

Perhaps originally part of a casket

'Cimon and Pero' (Roman Charity), plaquette

Cimon and Pero (Roman Charity)
Plaquette
The Master of the Roman Charity (active 1500-20)
Italy (Padua or Venice)
About 1500-20
Bronze
Museum no. 269-1864

This plaquette is almost certainly based on the centrepiece of a fireplace carved by Gaspare Pedone in 1502 for the house of Eliseo Raimondi in Cremona. It is a rare example of architecture preceding a plaquette design.

'The Rape of Ganymede', plaquette

'The Rape of Ganymede'
Plaquette
Giovanni Bernardi (1494-1553)
Italy
After 1532
Bronze
Museum no. 4120-1854

This frequently encountered plaquette shows Ganymede swept into the heavens by Jupiter in the guise of an eagle. It is taken from a lost rock crystal engraving that Bernardi produced for Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici. He adapted the composition from a drawing that Michelangelo made in the winter of 1532.

'The Virgin and Child with St John the Baptist', plaquette

The Virgin and Child with St John the Baptist
Plaquette
Italy
About 1500
Bronze
Museum no. 6977-1860

The pax, introduced in the Middle Ages, was kissed by the priest and congregation before taking communion. This relief is a rare example of a pax with its handle still attached. It would have been held up during the Mass as a devotional image for worship.

'The Virgin and Child in a Niche', the workshop of Donatello

'The Virgin and Child in a Niche'
The workshop of Donatello (1386/7-1466)
Italy (Padua)
About 1440s
Bronze
Museum no. A.406-1910
Salting Bequest

Almost all the small-scale reliefs and plaquettes produced by Donatello and his workshop are religious in subject matter. They usually depict the Virgin and Child. Most of the plaquettes would have been used for private devotion or set into paxes.