Read the visual description
The sculpture features a honeybee skep with several bees hovering around it, set in a natural landscape with small bushes and foliage. The piece is made of a bronze-like material, giving it a rich, rustic brown color. It is an oval talisman of a size to fit comfortably in a hand. The material reflects light, highlighting the raised carvings of the beehive, bees, and landscape features. The edge of the talisman is inscribed with text that encircles the scene, and a small hole is present at the top.
National Gallery of Art · Sculpture
Bees around a Hive [reverse]
Italian 16th Century
- Date
- 16th century
- Medium
- bronze
- Dimensions
- overall (oval): 3.65 × 2.74 cm (1 7/16 × 1 1/16 in.) gross weight: 19.26 gr (0.042 lb.) axis: 12:00
- Classification
- Sculpture · Medal/Medallion
- Accession number
- 1957.14.1090.b
- Credit line
- Samuel H. Kress Collection
- Time span
- 1401 to 1500
- Department
- CSD
Subjects and terms
- Italian
- Renaissance
- insect
- animal
- Bees
- Hive
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 top circumference: NON NISI LAEDENTEM LAEDIMVS
NGA object ID 45199. 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.