Maria de' Mucini [obverse]
c. 1485/1500
![Maria de' Mucini [obverse] by Niccolò Fiorentino](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/nga/thumb/maria-de-mucini-obverse-nga-44818.webp)
Medium
bronze
Dimensions
overall (diameter): 8.97 cm (3 9/16 in.) gross weight: 213.98 gr (0.472 lb.) axis: 2:00
Classification
Sculpture
Department
CSD
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Samuel H. Kress Collection
Accession Number
1957.14.866.a
Art Historical Context
This bronze medal, created by the Florentine artist Niccolò Fiorentino around 1485–1500, portrays Maria de’ Mucini on its obverse. Fiorentino was among the leading medallists of Renaissance Italy, celebrated for reviving the ancient Roman tradition of commemorative portraiture. Measuring just under 9 centimeters in diameter, the work exemplifies the intimate scale and refined detail typical of medals designed to be held and examined closely. During the late fifteenth century, such bronze pieces served as elegant tokens of status and remembrance, often exchanged among scholars, merchants, and ...