Allegory of Triumph and Sacrifice
The plaquette depicts an allegory of Triumph and Sacrifice, with a nude youth standing on a podium in the center, flanked by a winged Victory and two female attendants; to his right are two men slaying an ox. Two men in the background play flutes, a third carries a laurel branch. The reverse has a rarely observed surface of radiating lines in a herringbone pattern. It is a feature that this plaquette has in common with at least four others by or attributed to Riccio. Two of these also represent the allegory of Triumph and Sacrifice (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.), and the mutual subject strongly points to an origin of all three from the same workshop. No satisfactory explanation has been given for the presence and purpose of the pattern; although it seems unlikely that it formed part of the casting system of vents and runners, there is a vague resemblance with the spruing pattern of Ghiberti’s panels for the Gates of Paradise.
Artwork Details
- Title: Allegory of Triumph and Sacrifice
- Artist: Attributed to Andrea Briosco, called Riccio (Italian, Trent 1470–1532 Padua)
- Date: ca. 1520
- Medium: Copper alloy with reddish brown natural patina under a worn black lacquer or wax.
- Dimensions: 7.6 x 10.3 cm, wt. 188.24 g.
- Classification: Plaquettes
- Credit Line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
- Object Number: 1975.1.1341
- Curatorial Department: The Robert Lehman Collection
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Andrea Briosco, called Riccio
19th–20th century
Andrea Briosco, called Riccio
early 17th century
Andrea Briosco, called Riccio
model ca. 1516–21 (last cast)
Andrea Briosco, called Riccio
16th century
Andrea Briosco, called Riccio
probably early 16th century
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