Allegory of the Triumph of Poverty
Unknown Artist
model late 16th century (old cast)
Medium
Copper alloy with a natural brown to green patina; the reverse has remnants of solder.
Dimensions
6.6 x 12.6 cm, wt. 197.34 g.
Classification
Plaquettes
Culture
South Netherlandish (Antwerp?)
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.1352
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite plaquette, *Allegory of the Triumph Poverty*, hails from the South Netherlandish tradition, likely Antwerp, with a model dating to the late 16th and an old cast preserved in copper alloy. Measuring just 6.6 x 12.6 cm and weighing197.34 g, it exemplifies the intimate scale of plaquettes—small, low-relief metal plaques popular among Renaissance collectors for their portability and narrative depth. The surface bears a natural brown-to-greenina, a testament to centuries of graceful aging, while remnants of solder on the reverse suggest it may have once been affixed to a larger objec...