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Cincinnatus at the Plough

mid-15th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 500
Filarete was the earliest Renaissance maker of bronze plaquettes after his own designs, byproducts of his work on the bronze double door of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome (ca. 1433–45). The door's main reliefs have Christian subjects, but its borders contain figures and myths from classical antiquity. This energetic scene shows the reluctant Roman dictator Cincinnatus, who preferred the rewards of farming to the highest state honors. Only two other examples are known (Staatliche Münzsammlung, Berlin; and Musée du Louvre, Paris).

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Cincinnatus at the Plough
  • Artist: Filarete (Antonio di Pietro Averlino) (Italian, Florence ca. 1400–ca. 1469 Rome)
  • Date: mid-15th century
  • Culture: Italian, Rome
  • Medium: Bronze
  • Dimensions: Overall (confirmed): H. 2 1/2 x W. 5 5/16 x D. 1/8 in. (6.4 x 13.6 x 0.4 cm)
  • Classification: Medals and Plaquettes
  • Credit Line: Edith Perry Chapman Fund, 1996
  • Object Number: 1996.116
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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Medal: Federigo da Montefeltro, Filarete (Antonio di Pietro Averlino) Italian, Bronze (Copper alloy with brown to green patina with traces of black wax).
Medal: Federigo da Montefeltro
Filarete (Antonio di Pietro Averlino)
model ca. 1474 (possibly cast 19th or 20th century)
Saint Andrew, Andrea Bregno Italian, Marble, Italian, Rome
Saint Andrew
Andrea Bregno
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Cardinal Guillaume d'Estouteville (1403–1483), Bishop of Ostia and Cardinal Archbishop of Rouen, Mino da Fiesole (Mino di Giovanni) Italian, Marble, Italian, Rome
Cardinal Guillaume d'Estouteville (1403–1483), Bishop of Ostia and Cardinal Archbishop of Rouen
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The Farnese Table, Jacopo [Giacomo] Barozzi da Vignola Italian, Marble of different colors, semiprecious stones, Egyptian alabaster, residue of paint of different colors on the piers, Italian, Rome
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Spoon (one of a set), Antonio Gentili (Antonio da Faenza) Italian, Silver, Italian, Rome
Spoon (one of a set)
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