Combat at a City Gate
Andrea Riccio, Italian, 1470 - 1532
about 1500
Bronze with gilding
Overall: 3 7/16 × 4 × 5/16 in. (8.8 × 10.2 × 0.8 cm)
Weight: 317 g (0.7 lb.)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Roger Arvid Anderson Collection - 250th Anniversary Gift, 1769-2019
2016.64.9
Geography
Place Made: Italy, Europe
Period
1400-1600
Object Name
Sculpture: Plaquette
Research Area
Sculpture
On view
Inscriptions
None.
Label
Bronze plaquettes and medals were sought after by European collectors in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Made at a time when scholars and artists were increasingly interested in the Greek and Roman past, these metal casts could feature ancient history and myths to inspire their viewers. This group of bronzes celebrates ancient soldiers as models of valor. Such exemplars included both archetypal fighters and named figures. For instance, two plaquettes celebrate the mythological soldier Marcus Curtius, who sacrificed himself to the gods to save Rome by jumping into a crevasse. Other plaquettes feature imagined ancient battles, pausing the soldiers in courageous moments; they defend their city and drive back their enemies. In addition to being collected by the nobility, such medals could also be given as gifts as rewards for brave deeds.
From the 2023 exhibition Recording War: Images of Violence 1500 – 1900, curated by Elizabeth Rice Mattison, Andrew W. Mellon Associate Curator of Academic Programming
The sculptures in this grouping relate to the 15th- and 16th-century interest in Humanism, a tradition of learning with roots in Greek and Roman sources that emphasizes agency and inquiry. Sculptures of classical subjects like Arion or biblical ones like Eve could serve as prompts for conversation and debate about morality, philosophy, and literature. In this way, collections offered social spaces that connected friends, scholars, and rivals.
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 B. Offill, Curator of Collections
Course History
HIST 43.02, European Intellectual and Cultural History 1400-1800, Darrin McMahon, Fall 2019
ARTH 28.08, Italian Art from Renaissance to Baroque: Crisis and Invention, Elizabeth Kassler-Taub, Winter 2020
ARTH 28.09/MES 18.02, Art on the Move: Renaissance Italy and the Islamic World, Elizabeth Kassler-Taub, Winter 2021
ARTH 27.02, Living Stone: Sculpture in Early Modern Italy, Elizabeth Kassler-Taub, Winter 2022
ARTH 27.02, Living Stone: Sculpture in Early Modern Italy, Elizabeth Kassler-Taub, Winter 2022
HIST 43.02, European Intellectual History 1400-1800, Darrin McMahon, Fall 2022
Anthropology 3.01, Introduction to Anthropology, Charis Ford Morrison Boke 1, Summer 2023
Studio Art 27.01/28.01/74.01, Printmaking I/II/III, Josh Dannin, Summer 2023
History 42.01, Women's Gender, and Sexuality Studies 22.01, Gender & European Society, Patrick Meehan, Spring 2024
History 96.39, Saints and Relics, Cecilia Gaposchkin, Spring 2024
Italian 1.01, Introductory Italian I, Noemi Perego, Spring 2024
Italian 11.01, Intensive Italian, Floriana Ciniglia, Spring 2024
Italian 2.01, Introductory Italian II, Floriana Ciniglia, Spring 2024
Italian 3.01, Introductory Italian III, Tania Convertini, Spring 2024
Italian 3.02, Introductory Italian III, Giorgio Alberti, Spring 2024
Facilitated Experience: Special Tour - From Goya to Photojournalism, Summer 2023
Exhibition History
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. 25.
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.
Recording War: Images of Violence, 1500-1900, Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May 20-December 9, 2023.
Publication History
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. 148.
Provenance
Michael Hall, New York, New York; sold to Roger Arvid Anderson, San Francisco, California, date unknown; lent to present collection, 1995; given to present collection, 2016.
Catalogue Raisonne
Kress, Fig. 115, No. 218
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