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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

More Artwork

More Artwork
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
Follower of Filarete (Antonio di Pietro Averlino)
model ca. 1474 (possibly cast 19th or 20th century)
Two Armorial Trophies marked by the incorporation of a Broken Amphora on the Left, Plate 2 from the Libro de' Trofei, Anonymous, Italian , 16th century Italian, Engraving, Italian, Rome
Two Armorial Trophies marked by the incorporation of a Broken Amphora on the Left, Plate 2 from the Libro de' Trofei
Multiple artists/makers
ca. 1550–53
Robert Barker (d. 1745), Jacques-Antoine Dassier Swiss, Bronze, Swiss
Robert Barker (d. 1745)
Medalist: Jacques-Antoine Dassier
1744
Goblet, Glass, enameled and gilded, Italian, Venice, Murano
Goblet
Italian, Venice, Murano
ca. 1475–1500 (modern foot)
The Conversion of Saint Paul, Mario Cartaro Italian, Engraving
The Conversion of Saint Paul
Mario Cartaro
1567

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