Adoration of the Magi

The artwork, attributed by Molinier (1886) to the Veronese goldsmith Galeazzo Mondella, known as Il Moderno (1467–1528), depicts the Adoration of the Magi. The Holy Family is positioned on the right, accompanied by another child who may be Saint John the Baptist, and a small dog in the foreground. Behind them stands a wooden hut. On the left, the three wise men are presenting their gifts: one of them is kneeling and has placed his crown on the ground as a sign of respect; behind him, a second king bends down to offer his gift; lastly, the third wise man, with a worldly appearance and dressed in fifteenth-century fashion (with a headdress and long curls), is distracted from the sacred event because his attention is diverted by a page who is removing his sandals. A horse and three men complete the group in the foreground. The landscape consists of mountainous reliefs traversed by the procession of men, horses, and camels arriving to pay homage to the newborn. An eight-pointed star shines isolated in the sky, observed by a reclining shepherd who raises his hand to his face while his flock grazes peacefully. Unlike most other examples, the plaque is enclosed in a molded frame, similar to those in the Metropolitan Museum in New York (inv. 38.152.6) and the Musei Civici in Padua (Banzato 1989). The Adoration of the Magi is part of a series of small plaques by Il Moderno dedicated to the life of Christ, including the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, the Flagellation, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection, which are also present in the collections of the Museo di Palazzo Venezia (see inv. 10828, inv. 10829, inv. 10830, inv. 10831), all from the Viennese collection of the ambassador Giacinto Auriti (Santangelo 1964; Cannata 1982). The suggestion that the composition is derived from Cesare da Sesto’s Adoration of the Magi, painted for Messina around 1513–1514 and now in the Museo Capodimonte in Naples (Middeldof Goetz 1944), has not been supported by subsequent critics. 
Lewis (1989) offers the most comprehensive interpretation of Il Moderno's work, proposing a dating to the early 1490s and identifying some visual influences from the Veneto region. Specifically, the composition appears to be inspired by Antonio Vivarini's painting of the same subject, circa 1445, currently housed in the Berlin Museums. The foreground Magi seem reminiscent of those in Andrea Mantegna's painting, circa 1460, originally part of a triptych in Mantua and now located in the Uffizi. While these comparisons are well-argued, subsequent critics, such as Jestaz (1997), consider them somewhat generic, attributing the similarities to a well-established iconographic tradition. Notably, the detail of the page untying the shoe of the younger wise man, a feature also present in Gentile da Fabriano's Adoration in the Uffizi (Lewis 1989), remains significant. Pope-Hennessy (1965) observed a resemblance between the kneeling elder magus and Saint Jerome by Moderno, a comparison reproduced in Rossi (1974). Additionally, Cannata (1982) identified further correlations within the series: the bearded face of the wise man reappears in both the Longinus figure of the Crucifixion (inv. 10830) and the priest in the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple (inv. 10828), where the little dog from the Adoration is depicted three times. 
The Mantegnesque style and late-Gothic elements identified by critics indicate an early chronology. The composition's weaknesses (Rossi 1974; Cannata 1982) and the disordered arrangement of figures suggest this plaque was created during the artist's early period. Notable examples include those from Cleveland (Wixom 1975; modified in 1593 by the goldsmith Giovanni Battista Fontano for Archbishop Andrea Aiardo of Brindisi) and Berlin (Bange 1922; featuring a frame with fluted pilasters and a tympanum adorned with a cherub’s head). However, many others, such as the one at the Museo di Palazzo Venezia, show eroded surfaces due to repeated handling and the offering of the plaque to the faithful for kissing. Numerous examples exist (see listings in Rossi 1974 and Wixom 1975): in Berlin (Bange 1922), Santa Barbara (Middeldorf, Goetz 1944), the Louvre (Molinier 1886; Migeon 1904), the Victoria & Albert Museum (Maclagan 1924), the National Gallery of Art in Washington (De Ricci 1931; Cott 1951; Pope-Hennessy 1965), the Imbert collection (Imbert, Morazzoni 1944), Belluno (Venturi 1910; Jestaz 1997), Brescia (Rossi 1974), Turin (A.S.F. 1982), and Padua (Banzato 1989). Additionally, there are two examples in the Metropolitan Museum in New York (inv. 1986.319.21; inv. 38.152.6) and three in the Musei Civici in Vicenza (Banzato 2000). 
The back of the gilt bronze plaque in the Louvre was modified in the late sixteenth century. It bears the date 1560 and the dedication of Francesco and Polissena Giustiniani (Molinier 1886; Migeon 1904). Among the modifications is the face of the Virgin in profile (Jestaz 1997).

Giulio Pietrobelli

Good. Natural brown patina, dark lacquer.

Vienna, Giacinto Auriti Collection, formed between 1922 and 1933, no. 5; 
Rome, Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia, donated in 1963.

Molinier Émile, Les bronzes italiens de la Renaissance. Les plaquettes. Catalogue raisonné, Paris 1886, I, pp. 125-127 n. 168;
Migeon Gaston (a cura di), Musée National du Louvre. Catalogue des bronzes & cuivres du Moyen Âge, de la Renaissance et des temps modernes, Paris 1904, p. 244 n. 300;
Forrer Leonard, Biographical Dictionary of Medallists, London 1909, IV, pp. 101-102;
Venturi Lionello, I bronzi del Museo Civico di Belluno, in «Bollettino d’Arte», IV, 1910, 9, pp. 353-366, nota 3;
Bange Ernst Friedrich (a cura di), Die Italienischen Brozen der Renaissance und des Barock: Riliefs und Plaketten, Berlin 1922, II, p. 62 n. 451, tav. 50, n. 451;
Maclagan Eric, Victoria & Albert Museum. Catalogue of Italian Plaquettes, London 1924, pp. 28-29, n. 7453-1861;
De Ricci Seymour, The Gustave Dreyfus Collection. Reliefs and Plaquettes, Oxford 1931, p. 129, n. 166;
Imbert Eugenio, Morazzoni Giuseppe (a cura di), Le placchette italiane. Secolo XV-XIX. Contributo alla conoscenza della placchetta italiana, Milano 1941, p. 55, n. 103, tav. XIX.3;
Middeldorf Ulrich, Goetz Oswald, Medals and Plaquettes from the Sigmund Morgenroth Collection, Chicago 1944, p. 33, n. 228;
Cott Perry, Renaissance Bronzes: Statuettes, Reliefs and Plaquettes, Medals and Coins from The Kress Collection, Washington 1951, p. 151;
Santangelo Antonino, Museo di Palazzo Venezia. La collezione Auriti. Piccoli bronzi, placchette, incisioni e oggetti d’uso, Roma 1964, p. 35, tav. LIII;
Pope-Hennessy John, Renaissance Bronzes from the Samuel Kress H. Collection. Reliefs, Plaquettes, Statuettes, Utensils and Mortars, London 1965, pp. 45-46, n. 144, fig. 178;
Rossi Francesco (a cura di), Musei Civici di Brescia. Placchette secoli XV-XIX, Vicenza 1974, pp. 25-26, n. 30, fig. 11;
Wixom William, Renaissance Bronzes from Ohio Collections, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland 1975, n. 40;
A.S.F., in Dagli ori antichi agli anni Venti. Le collezioni di Riccardo Gualino, catalogo della mostra (Torino, Palazzo Madama, Galleria Sabauda, dicembre 1982-marzo 1983), Milano 1982, p. 121, n. 57;
Cannata Pietro (a cura di), Rilievi e placchette dal XV al XVIII secolo, catalogo della mostra (Roma, Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia, febbraio-aprile 1982), Roma 1982, p. 49, n. 24;
Banzato, in Banzato Davide, Pellegrini Franca, Bronzi e Placchette dei Musei Civici di Padova, Padova 1989, pp. 57-58, n. 29;
Lewis Douglas, The Plaquettes of Moderno and His Followers, in «Studies in the History of Art», 22, 1989, pp. 105-141;
Jestaz Bertrand, Catalogo del Museo Civico di Belluno. Le placchette e i piccoli bronzi, Belluno 1997, pp. 54, 154, fig. 27;
Banzato, in Banzato Davide, Beltramini Maria, Gasparotto Davide, Placchette, bronzetti e cristalli incisi dei Musei Civici di Vicenza. Secoli XV-XVIII, catalogo della mostra (Caltanissetta, Cripta della Cattedrale, 16 settembre-12 novembre 2000), Verona 2000, p. 64, nn. 28-30, p. 122, figg. 28-30.