Five cupids playing and making music with a mask

In 1876, a small terracotta sculpture was discovered within the foundations of Palazzo Venezia, alongside a money box containing medals bearing the effigy of Pope Paul II. It was customary at the time to bury objects closely associated with their patron in the foundations of buildings to preserve their memory (Weiss 1958, pp. 69–81; Balbi De Caro 1973). The terracotta was located inside the north wall of the palace, which was completed prior to the pontiff’s death in July 1471 (Lanciani 1902, ed. 1989, pp. 68–69). Consequently, this date should be regarded as the terminus ante quem for the sculpture.
Along with another relief depicting a chivalric scene (inv. 10418), found at the same time, this relief was first transferred by the Austrians to the castle of Ambras near Innsbruck. Later, it was moved to the Hofmuseum in Vienna. In 1923, it was returned to the Italian State and to the collections of Palazzo Venezia, where it originally belonged (Modigliani 1923, p. 68). 
The rectangular tile illustrates five winged cupids engaged in various activities. Starting from the left, there is a cherub playing a wind instrument, followed by a second cherub holding a small lyre. The third cherub, positioned at the center, is covering his face with a large bearded mask, which has frightened the fourth cherub who is sitting on the ground and being supported by the fifth cherub, who is holding his head with both hands. The depiction of putti playing with masks draws inspiration from ancient themes and originates from the biography of the painter Zeuxis, as written by Lucian. This biography describes a lost painting by Zeuxis featuring a family of centaurs accompanied by naked putti playing with large masks, wearing them to frighten each other or animating them with their hands. This theme gained popularity during the Renaissance and was also translated into miniature by Gaspare da Padova in the Cronica di Eusebio da Cesarea, authored by Bartolomeo Sanvito in Rome between 1486 and 1487 (Cannata 2004, pp. 238–239, n. II.67).
The terracotta piece features putti sculpted in negative relief, which is indicative of its purpose as a mold for plaques rather than an independent, completed artwork (Rossi 2011, pp. 80–81, n. II.4). Originating in the Roman court of Pope Peter Barbo (pontificate: 1464–1484), ancient plaques are small metal reliefs, typically bronze, that replicated ancient engraved gemstones or Renaissance creations inspired by classical themes, such as cupids. Artists employed terracotta molds to create wax models, which were subsequently cast in metal to produce replicas for various applications.
The small plates produced from the mold were initially attributed to the school of Donatello (Molinier 1886, p. 46, n. 79), then to Andrea Briosco, known as il Riccio (Planiscig 1927, p. 312), and subsequently to a generic North Italian workshop (Middeldorf–Goetz 1944, p. 32, n. 217). However, the discovery of this matrix in the foundations of the Palazzo Venezia has enabled us to associate the invention with the Roman context of the artists working for Paul II, conventionally referred to as the Officine di San Marco, named after Cardinal Barbo's palace (Cannata 1982, p. 37, n. 4). By comparing it with the medals signed by Cristoforo di Geremia, a Mantuan artist associated with the production of bronze works dedicated to the pontiff from 1465 onwards, it is also feasible to attribute this mold to him. The lumpy locks of hair of the cupids and the mask, as well as the regular folds of the drapery of the cherub on the far right, are identical to those characterising the medal of Constantine the Great that Cristoforo signed around 1468 (Zaccariotto 2020, p. 113, n. 84).
Supporting this hypothesis is the presence of an impressed letter "G" on the reverse side, which likely represents the artist's initials, “G[eremia].”
Cristoforo di Geremia, the son of a goldsmith, was born in Mantua around 1410. He moved to Rome in 1456, where he first served Cardinal Ludovico Scarampi Mezzarota and later his fellow countryman Ludovico Gonzaga. From 1465, he worked for Pope Paul II, creating numerous medals, some of which he signed, and restoring the bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius during Emperor Frederick III’s visit to Rome in 1468. Cristoforo di Geremia died in Rome in 1476 (Pirzio Birolli Stefanelli 1985).

Giulia Zaccariotto

Good.

The reverse side features an engraved letter "G" and remnants of red sealing wax.

Palazzo Venezia, foundation money boxes.

Rome, Catalogo degli oggetti d’arte e di storia restituiti dall’Austria–Ungheria ed esposti nel R. Palazzo Venezia in Roma, Rome 1923;
Rome, Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia, Rilievi e placchette dal XV al XVIII secolo, Rome 1982;
Athens, National Gallery, Alexandros Soutzos Museum, In the Light of Apollo. Italian Renaissance and Greece, December 22, 2003–March 31, 2004.

Molinier Émile, Les Plaquettes. Catalogue raisonné, Paris 1886.
Modigliani Ettore (a cura di), Catalogo degli oggetti d'arte e di storia restituiti dall'Austria-Ungheria ed esposti nel R. Palazzo Venezia in Roma, Roma 1923, p. 68;
Planiscig Leo, Andrea Riccio, Wien 1927.
Middeldorf Ulrich, Goetz Oswald, Medals and Plaquettes from the Sigmund Morgenroth Collection, Chicago 1944;
Weiss Roberto, Un umanista veneziano. Papa Paolo II, Venezia 1958;
Balbi De Caro Silvana, Di alcune medaglie di Paolo II rinvenute nelle mura del Palazzo di Venezia in Roma, in «Medaglia», III, 1973, 5, pp. 24-34;
Cannata, in 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, pp. 36-39, n. 4;
Pirzio Birolli Stefanelli Lucia, Cristoforo di Geremia, ad vocem, in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, XXXI, Roma 1985;
Lanciani Rodolfo, Storia degli scavi di Roma e notizie intorno le collezioni romane di antichità (1000-1530), Roma 1989;
Cannata, in Gregori Mina (a cura di), In the Light of Apollo. Italian Renaissance and Greece, catalogo della mostra (Atene, National Gallery, Alexandros Soutzos Museum, 22 dicembre 2003-31 marzo 2004), Cinisello Balsamo 2004, pp. 238-239, n. II.67;
Rossi Francesco, La collezione Mario Scaglia. Placchette, Bergamo 2011;
Zaccariotto Giulia, La collezione di medaglie Mario Scaglia. II. Catalogo, Bologna-Cinisello Balsamo 2020.