Standing Figure of Faith [reverse]
c. 1497
![Standing Figure of Faith [reverse] by Style of Niccolò Fiorentino](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/nga/thumb/standing-figure-of-faith-reverse-nga-44807.webp)
Medium
bronze
Dimensions
overall (diameter): 5.66 cm (2 1/4 in.) gross weight: 75.82 gr (0.167 lb.) axis: 12:00
Classification
Sculpture
Department
CSD
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Samuel H. Kress Collection
Accession Number
1957.14.859.b
Art Historical Context
This small bronze medal, created around 1497 in the style of the Florentine sculptor Niccolò Fiorentino, captures the allegorical figure of Faith on its reverse. Measuring just over two inches in diameter, the piece exemplifies the Renaissance revival of ancient Roman coinage traditions, where portable medals served as both personal mementos and vehicles for moral or political messages. Fiorentino’s workshop specialized in crisp, low-relief designs that balanced classical elegance with Christian symbolism, making such objects popular among the educated elite of late fifteenth-century Italy. F...
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...