The Triumph of Justice and the Triumph of Church - Netherlandish school XVI

Netherlandish school
The Triumph of Justice and the Triumph of Church
Bronze plaquettes
Last quarter of XVI century
12,8 x 7,6 cm et 12,5 x 6,7 cm


Those two bronze plaquettes depicting the Triumph of Justice and the Triumph of the Church belong to a series of thirteen which enjoyed considerable success at the end of the 16th century and which can be found in the great Samuel H. Kress collection, at the Cleveland Museum, at the Metropolitan Museum, Victoria and Albert. Those plaquettes have a high quality of carving, revealing the rapid pace of the tanks and the quality of the animals' coat; the artist has shown great skill in revealing many details over such a small area.

Justice : A young man sits on a cart surmounted by a flaming vase and carried by two lions with a stick and spikes; sitting behind him, Justice with a weighing scale and Peace with an olive branch. Plenty faces them with a horn overflowing with flowers and fruit.

Church: On a cart dragged by two Unicorns sits a woman (the Church) followed by a dove (Representing the Holy Spirit) carrying two keys in his right hand. In front of the Church, the allegories of Foix meet Chastity (with a dove and a scepter) and Obedience (with a yoke).

Bibliography :
-G. Toderi, F. V. Toderi, Placchette: Secoli XV-XVIII nel Museo Nazionale del Bargello,
- E. Molinier, les plaquettes, Paris 1886, p. 196, n. 351- 348
- E. F. Bange, Die italianischen Bronzen der Renaissance und der Barock, Reliefs und plaketten,
Berlino 1922,
- J. Pope Hennessy, Renaissance Bronze from the Samuel Kress Collection. Reliefs, plaquettes,
utensils and mortars, London 1965, p. 122, n. 463
- I. Weber, Deutsche, Niederländische und Französische Renaissance plaketten 1500-1650,
Munchen, 1975, p. 297, n. 668
- Rossi, Musei Civici di Brescia, Placchete secoli XV-XIX, Vicenza 1974
Rossi, VI Triennale italiana della Medaglia d’arte. Rassegna della Placchetta dal XV al XVII
secolo, mostra, Udine 1974