Ate and the Litai
1535–46
Medium
Bronze, dark brown patina.
Dimensions
Diam. 5 3/4 in. (14.6 cm.)
Classification
Medals and Plaquettes
Culture
German, Nuremberg
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1954
Accession Number
54.84
Tags
Art Historical Context
Peter Flötner’s *Ate and the Litai* (1535–46) is a captivating bronze plaquette from Renaissance Nuremberg, a hub of German artistic innovation. Measuring just 5¾ inches in diameter, this-scale relief captures a dramatic moment from Greek mythology: Ate, the goddess of delusion and mischief, flees as the Litai—personifications of Prayers—pursue her in supplication. Flötner, a versatile Nuremberg artist known for his designs in metalwork, woodcuts, and ornamentation, draws on classical sources like Homer’s *Iliad* to blend Northern Renaissance precision with humanist reverence for antiquity. Th...
About the Artist
Peter Flötner · 1485–1546
Peter Flötner (c. 1485–1546) was a German sculptor, ornament designer, and medalist whose work played a central role in the transmission of Italian Renaissance decorative vocabulary into the German-speaking lands. Though his exact origins remain uncertain — he may have trained in Augsburg before settling permanently in Nuremberg around 1522 — his formation evidently included exposure to Italian Re...