Hand Bell with the Grimaldi Arms, Masks, Busts in Profile, Rabbits and Griffins
16th century
Medium
bronze//Dark brown patina
Dimensions
overall: 12.8 x 10.5 cm (5 1/16 x 4 1/8 in.)
Classification
Sculpture
Department
CSD
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Samuel H. Kress Collection
Accession Number
1957.14.113
Art Historical Context
This exquisite 16th-century Italian hand bell, measuring just 5 x 4 inches, showcases the Renaissance mastery of small-scale metalwork. Cast with a rich dark brown patina that has developed over centuries, it features intricate decorations including the heraldic arms of the Grimaldi family—a prominent Genoese noble lineage later associated with Monaco's rulers—alongside classical masks, profile busts figures, playful rabbits, and mythical griff. These motifs blend heraldry, antiquity, and fantasy, transforming a functional object into a work of art. Crafted using sophisticated lost-wax castin...
About the Artist
Italian 16th Century
"Italian 16th Century" refers to a collective attribution for anonymous painters and sculptors active in Italy during the 16th century, a period bridging the High Renaissance and Mannerism. These artists, often working in workshops of masters like Titian, Veronese, and Tintoretto, remain unidentified due to the collaborative nature of Renaissance production. Their early lives and training are not ...