Fortune Riding on a Dolphin [reverse]
c. 1498
![Fortune Riding on a Dolphin [reverse] by Style of Niccolò Fiorentino](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/nga/thumb/fortune-riding-on-a-dolphin-reverse-nga-44854.webp)
Medium
bronze
Dimensions
overall (diameter): 7.93 cm (3 1/8 in.) gross weight: 190.44 gr (0.42 lb.) axis: 12:00
Classification
Sculpture
Department
CSD
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Samuel H. Kress Collection
Accession Number
1957.14.884.b
Art Historical Context
This bronze medal, created around 1498 in the style of Niccolò Fiorentino, exemplifies the refined art of Italian Renaissance medallions. Fiorentino, active in Florence, was celebrated for his portrait medals that captured the likeness and virtues of prominent figures Measuring just over three in diameter, this piecelikely the reverse of larger commemorative work—cases the era’s with classical mythology and symbolic imagery. The scene of Fortune riding a dolphin evokes themes of chance, navigation, and the unpredictable currents of life, common in Renaissance thought. Bronze was the preferred...
About the Artist
Style of Niccolò Fiorentino
"Style of Niccolò Fiorentino" refers to the distinctive manner of bronze portrait medals produced by the workshop, circle, or close followers of the Florentine medallist Niccolò di Forzore Spinelli (1430–1514), known as Niccolò Fiorentino. Born into a prominent family of Florentine goldsmiths, Spinelli—great-nephew of the painter Spinello Aretino—emerged as one of the leading figures in the burgeo...