Made in the mid-15th century by the Italian Master IO.F.F, this Renaissance-era bronze medallion depicts the mythological scene of Ariadne on Naxos.

The Signature, IO.FF, has been interpreted as Iohannes Florentinus Fecit (Iohannes Florentinus Made It), perhaps referring to Giovanni delle Corniole, who was born around 1470-1516 and was a celebrated gem engraver.¹ Other attribution interpretations include Giacomo Francesco Bonzagni (Gian Francesco di Boggio), but there is no consensus. John Pope Hennessey identifies IOFF as “Giovanni Francesco Ruberti (Gianfrancesco Ruberti della Grana), whose activity is documented from 1483 till 1526.” Ruberti is known to have been engaged in coin striking in Mantua and involved in a new minting process in Mantua as well as being an accomplished arms and armor decorator, all tools that would have given him the expertise to craft bronze medals with such detail and delicacy.²

This medallion design was one of the more popular designs to come out of the hand of the Master IOFF and appears to have been very popular in 15th and 16th century Italy, appearing also in the same form on other embossed and engraved media (plaquettes, book bindings, niello, etc.). We can also find it on medals owned by Henry II of France.³ Many of these examples also have a hole on the top.

The scene depicts the mythological story of Ariadne on the island of Naxos. Ariadne was the daughter of King Minos of Crete, whose famous labyrinth housed the Minotaur. When the hero Theseus faced the labyrinth, Ariadne equipped him with a sword and ball of thread so that he might slay the monster and find his way out. Theseus and Ariadne escaped Crete together, but soon Theseus abandoned her on the island of Naxos. This myth was the subject of many Classical and Renaissance-era artworks, and most depictions portray Ariadne as Theseus left her: sleeping. Master IO.F.F’s medallion shows the resolution to the story. Dionysus discovered Ariadne on the island, fell in love with her, and married her. A similar depiction of the myth can be seen in Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne, painted around 50 years after this medallion was created.

Bronze medals, like many other artforms in Renaissance Italy (including painting and sculpture), were reproducible. This allowed for the establishment of artist studios in which works would have been produced in undetermined quantities from a catalog of established designs. Some were made in more limited quantities, either because the design itself was not very successful or appealing to contemporaries, or because the design was specially developed to suit one specific individual. I will note however that even certain portraits with specific coats of arms enjoyed widespread adoption and circulation. Some works were made in greater quantities because they fit a broader contemporary palette. There is no way to know exactly how many of these were produced, but we do know of many other examples in collections and museums around the world that do exist. This does indicate however that this design was important and meaningful to contemporaries and fit a wide variety of contexts. These bronze medallions would have been collected by individuals and then presented to guests as a means of putting their own virtues on display; either as humanists and literati in general, or as something that has to do more specifically with the virtues in the scene itself.

¹Eric Maclagan, Catalogue of Italian Plaquettes (London: V&A, 1924), 51-52.

²John Pope Hennessy, Renaissance Bronzes from the Samuel H. Kress Collection (London: Phaidon Press, 1965), 33.

³Ibid.

MA

Excellent, with the slightest rubbing to some of the high points.

For a detailed condition report, please contact us.

This Renaissance bronze medallion comes with a custom fabricated mount by Meyer & Myers.

The Collection of Elaine and Alexandre Rosenberg

Italian Renaissance Bronzes, exhibition catalogue, New York, Paul Rosenberg & Co., 1980, p. 2.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, 18.70.3

Musée National de la Renaissance

National Gallery of Art, 1957.14.472 and 1942.9.209

Victoria & Albert Museum, A.471-1910

Fulton, Christopher B. “The Master IO.F.F. and the Function of Plaquettes.” Studies in the History of Art 22 (1989): 146, 158–159, note 7, fig. 2, as by Master IO.F.F.

Italian Renaissance Bronzes (New York: Paul Rosenberg & Co., 1980), p. 2.

Pope-Hennessy, John W. Renaissance Bronzes from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Reliefs, Plaquettes, Statuettes, Utensils and Mortars. London, 1965: 33, no. 97, fig. 128, as Ariadne on Naxos, by “Master IO.F.F.”

Wilson, Carolyn C. Renaissance Small Bronze Sculpture and Associated Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1983: 97, no. 16, as Ariadne on Naxos, by “Master IO.F.F.”