Read the visual description
The sculpture is a circular relief depicting two seated figures facing each other. On the left, a woman with her hair tied back is dressed in a draped garment, her left hand extended to hold the right hand of the figure on the right. The figure on the right appears to be a man and is also seated, dressed in what appears to be armor or a detailed tunic. Both figures are seated on folding, X-shaped stools. The material of the sculpture is a dark bronze, with a slightly metallic sheen that highlights the intricacies and folds of the clothing and features of the figures. Around the edge of the relief, there are inscriptions in Roman script. The details of the figures are finely crafted, giving a sense of historical clothing and posture in the depiction of this interaction.
National Gallery of Art · Sculpture
Antonius Pius and Faustina Joining Hands [reverse]
Filarete
- Date
- c. 1445/1449
- Medium
- bronze
- Dimensions
- overall (diameter): 10.13 cm (4 in.) gross weight: 521.1 gr (1.149 lb.) axis: 12:00
- Classification
- Sculpture · Medal/Medallion
- Accession number
- 1957.14.797.b
- Credit line
- Samuel H. Kress Collection
- Time span
- 1401 to 1500
- Department
- CSD
Subjects and terms
- Renaissance
- North Italian
- history
- portrait
- Faustina
- Antoninus Pius
Provenance
Gustave Dreyfus [1837-1914], Paris; his heirs; purchased with the entire Dreyfus collection 9 July 1930 by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris); sold 31 January 1944 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[1] gift 1957 to NGA. [1] The Duveen Brothers Records document the firm’s sixteen year pursuit and eventual acquisition of the Dreyfus collection, which included paintings, sculptures, small bronzes, medals, and plaquettes. Bequeathed as part of his estate to Dreyfus’ widow and five children (a son and four daughters), who had differing opinions about its disposition, the collection was not sold until after his widow’s death in April 1929. Duveen did not wish to separate Dreyfus’ collection of small bronzes, medals, and plaquettes, and it was sold intact to the Kress Foundation for a price that was met by installment payments every three months. (Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles: reel 301, box 446, folders 3 and 4; reel 302, box 447, folders 1-6; reel 303, box 448, folders 1 and 2; reel 330, box 475, folder 4.) See also George Francis Hill’s discussion "A Note on Pedigrees" in his catalogue, _The Gustave Dreyfus Collection: Renaissance Medals_, Oxford, 1931: xii, which was commissioned by Duveen Brothers.
Inscription
around circumference: DIVA FAVSTINA DIVS ANTONINVS; around bottom circumference: S[enatus] C[onsulto]
NGA object ID 44687. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.