The Martelli Mirror (Pactera Martelli); Satyr and Bacchante (obverse); Globe with Sun and Moon (reverse)
after Cristoforo Foppa, called Caradosso, Italian, about 1452 - 1527
about 1475-1505; 19th century aftercast
Bronze
Overall: 6 11/16 × 6 11/16 × 1/2 in. (17 × 17 × 1.2 cm)
Weight: 745 g (1.6 lb.)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Roger Arvid Anderson Collection - 250th Anniversary Gift, 1769-2019
2016.64.23
Geography
Place Made: Italy, Europe
Period
19th century
Object Name
Sculpture
Research Area
Sculpture
On view
Inscriptions
Not signed.
Label
The original Martelli Mirror was a convex plaquette that held a polished mirror on the reverse of the scene of a satyr and a bacchante surrounded by grape vines and other signs of fertility. The satyr’s horned hand gesture is an ancient sign thought to ward off the evil eye, and these messages of protection and production indicate that the original mirror may have been a wedding gift. The plaquette was widely copied and adapted. The unusual astronomical reverse of the Hood Museum’s plaquette, which shows the earth, sun, and moon in a network of overlapping pathways, seems unique and may have related to the astrological interests of the 19-century owner.
From the 2024 exhibition Living with Sculpture: Presence and Power in Europe, 1400–1750, curated by Elizabeth Rice Mattison, Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programming and Curator of European Art, and Ashley Offill, Curator of Collections
Course History
ITAL 23, 17th and 18th Century Italian Literature, Nancy Canepa, Spring 2022
Exhibition History
Antiquity in Rome from the Renaissance to the Age of Enlightenment: Selections from Dartmouth's Collections, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 7-September 9, 2001.
Critical Faculties: Teaching with the Hood's Collections, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 15-March 13, 2005.
European Bronzes from the Collection of Roger Arvid Anderson, Class of 1968, Gene Y. Kim, Class of 1985, Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 19, 1996-June 22, 1997, no. 15.
Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, April 12-July 28, 2002.
Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, February 2, 1990-November 9, 1992.
Living with Sculpture: Presence and Power in Europe, 1400–1750, Citrin Family Gallery and Engles Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 23, 2024–March 22, 2025.
Renaissance Bronzes From The Collection of Roger Arvid Anderson, Class of 1968, Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May 13-August 29, 1993.
Publication History
T. Barton Thurber and Adrian W.B. Randolph, Antiquity in Rome from the Renaissance to the Age of Enlightenment: Selections from Dartmouth's Collections, Hanover, New Hampshire: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2001, listed p.72.
Roger Arvid Anderson, The Roger Arvid Anderson Collection, Medals, Medallions, Plaquettes and Small Reliefs, Paintings, Sculpture, Works on Paper and Textiles, San Francisco: Roger Arvid Anderson (published privately), design by David L. Wilson, 2015, p. 176-177.
Provenance
Blumka Gallery, New York, New York; sold to Roger Arvid Anderson, San Francisco, California, date unknown; lent to present collection, 2011; given to present collection, 2016.
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