Combat at a City Gate

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.

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

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.

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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