DOI issue:
Faculty of archeology, history and letters
DOI article:Strong, Eugénie: A bronze plaque in the Rosenheim collection
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70028#0237
A Bronze Plaque in the Rosenheim Collection. 217
Mr. Ready, and was afterwards presented to the College in place of
the vanished original.1
The plaque is 32 cm. high and nearly 19 cm. broad, rounded at the
top and pierced with holes for suspension or attachment. The
philosopher is represented in profile, facing right, with long hair and
beard, wearing the doctor’s cap with tassel2 and the doctor’s hood and
gown. Below, on the plinth, runs the inscription in three lines
APISTOTEAHS | 0 APISTOS TQN | (^IAOSO^SlN
Style, workmanship and composition point to the close of the
fifteenth century as the date of its production, and there is obviously
no question here of a genuine portrait of the philosopher. Five other
replicas exist (enumerated by Courajod and Molinier) which are respectively
in Florence (Bargello), Modena (Fig. i),3 Venice (Mus. Correr), Brunswick,
and the Coll. G. Dreyfus in Paris. I have not been able to procure
information as to all these, but from the almost identical measurements
and technique of the Florence4 and Collegio Inglese examples, it seems
probable that all the plaques were taken from the same mould and that
any slight variants between them are due to retouching with the
chisel.
The ‘ Aristotle ’ was likewise reproduced in medal form, and I am
much indebted to Mr. G. F. Hill for the following description of two
examples in the British Museum :—
“1. Cast bronze -medal (Fig. 2, a). Obv. Bust of Aristotle to r. ;
wearing round cap, with legend
APISTOTEAHS 0 APISTOS TS5N (fjIAOSOC^vSN
1 Mr. C. F. Bell, of the Ashmolean, Oxford, and Mr. Henry Oppenheimer (who,
moreover, obtained the cast for me) were also good enough to give information as to this
and other replicas.
2 On Aristotle with a cap see Bernoulli, loc. oil. In the fresco of ‘ St. Thomas in
Glory ’ in Sta. Caterina at Pisa, attributed to F. Traini, Aristotle also wears a cap-
,though of round rather than pointed shape'—-in contrast to Plato, who is characterized
as an Oriental by the embroidered shawl round his head.
3 Venturi, Galleria Estense in Modena, p. 82. . The illustration in my text is after a
photograph kindly procured by Cardinal Gasquet.
1 By the courtesy of the Director of the Bargello, Dott. G. de Nicola, I have received
a photograph of the Bargello replica with details as to its dimensions, etc. It measures
325 cm. X 183 cm., and seems in every respect a replica of the Rosenheim example.
Mr. Ready, and was afterwards presented to the College in place of
the vanished original.1
The plaque is 32 cm. high and nearly 19 cm. broad, rounded at the
top and pierced with holes for suspension or attachment. The
philosopher is represented in profile, facing right, with long hair and
beard, wearing the doctor’s cap with tassel2 and the doctor’s hood and
gown. Below, on the plinth, runs the inscription in three lines
APISTOTEAHS | 0 APISTOS TQN | (^IAOSO^SlN
Style, workmanship and composition point to the close of the
fifteenth century as the date of its production, and there is obviously
no question here of a genuine portrait of the philosopher. Five other
replicas exist (enumerated by Courajod and Molinier) which are respectively
in Florence (Bargello), Modena (Fig. i),3 Venice (Mus. Correr), Brunswick,
and the Coll. G. Dreyfus in Paris. I have not been able to procure
information as to all these, but from the almost identical measurements
and technique of the Florence4 and Collegio Inglese examples, it seems
probable that all the plaques were taken from the same mould and that
any slight variants between them are due to retouching with the
chisel.
The ‘ Aristotle ’ was likewise reproduced in medal form, and I am
much indebted to Mr. G. F. Hill for the following description of two
examples in the British Museum :—
“1. Cast bronze -medal (Fig. 2, a). Obv. Bust of Aristotle to r. ;
wearing round cap, with legend
APISTOTEAHS 0 APISTOS TS5N (fjIAOSOC^vSN
1 Mr. C. F. Bell, of the Ashmolean, Oxford, and Mr. Henry Oppenheimer (who,
moreover, obtained the cast for me) were also good enough to give information as to this
and other replicas.
2 On Aristotle with a cap see Bernoulli, loc. oil. In the fresco of ‘ St. Thomas in
Glory ’ in Sta. Caterina at Pisa, attributed to F. Traini, Aristotle also wears a cap-
,though of round rather than pointed shape'—-in contrast to Plato, who is characterized
as an Oriental by the embroidered shawl round his head.
3 Venturi, Galleria Estense in Modena, p. 82. . The illustration in my text is after a
photograph kindly procured by Cardinal Gasquet.
1 By the courtesy of the Director of the Bargello, Dott. G. de Nicola, I have received
a photograph of the Bargello replica with details as to its dimensions, etc. It measures
325 cm. X 183 cm., and seems in every respect a replica of the Rosenheim example.