Flagellation of Christ

The episode depicted is the Flagellation, where Christ is tied to a column in the center and is being whipped by soldiers. There are twelve figures in the scene, with five soldiers to the left of Christ and six to the right. The subject's drama is conveyed through the twisted poses of both Christ and the soldiers wielding the flagellum. The scaling of the figures in depth adds to the detail, starting with the intricately detailed nude figure seen from behind in the foreground and ending with the knight arriving on his steed emerging from the background. The scene is set within an architectural structure featuring a double-domed portico supported by arches on pillars. Critics have explained the construction of this space with reference to Lombard and Bramantesque works, including Giovanni Antonio da Brescia's engraving depicting the Flagellation (Pope-Hennessy 1965), the Flagellation in Lombard style at the church of San Paolo Fuori le Mura (Agosti 1990), and Bramante’s architectural culture, complemented by Venetian examples such as Cima da Conegliano’s altarpiece Madonna dell’Orto (Lewis 1989). Additionally, the Prevedari engraving (1481) is noted for its double vanishing point and the depiction of a ruined dome on the right. 
The artistic culture of late fifteenth-century Milan had a significant influence on Il Moderno (1467–1528), which is evident in the integration of contemporary Roman innovations from the period of Pope Julius II (see also inv. no. 5485). The portrayal of Christ's suffering pose is derived from the Vatican Laocoon, discovered in 1506, which provides a terminus post quem for this plaque (Cicognara 1816; Planiscig 1924; Leithe-Jasper 1986). The flagellator’ figures are also connected to ancient models: Planiscig (1924) associated them with one of the Tyrannicides, previously located in the courtyard of Palazzo Madama in Rome (currently in Naples), while Bange (1922) suggested a stronger comparison with the Dioscuri of Montecavallo. Additionally, the soldiers’ depiction recalls the battle scenes portrayed on sarcophagi (Leithe-Jasper 1986). In the dynamic gestures of the characters, Pope-Hennessy (1964 and 1965) observed resemblances to the Massacre of the Innocents, a work by Raphael engraved by Marcantonio Raimondi. In the expressive intensity and plastic vigor of the figures, Il Moderno seems to be influenced by Michelangelo’s style. The naked figure with his back turned in the foreground on the right is similar to figure studies created by Michelangelo for the Battle of Cascina (c. 1504–1505), such as the one preserved in the Teyler Museum in Haarlem (inv. A 19). The comparison between this nude and an anatomical study for the Battle of Anghiari, also by Leonardo, appears to be more typological than stylistic (Franco 2022). In Vienna (inv. KK 1105), there is a silver example with gilding, signed, which is considered to be among the first made and later replicated in bronze series. The Flagellation in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, together with the Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints in the same museum, decorated a cabinet donated by Giovanni Grimani to the Serenissima in 1593 during the second half of the sixteenth century. It has been suggested that the two plaques were commissioned either by Cardinal Domenico Grimani, a known collector (Lewis 1989; Gasparotto 2008; Gasparotto 2016), or by his father Antonio (Franco 2022). Additionally, another silver example has been discovered in a private collection but is displayed in Palazzo Grimani in Venice and is also signed (Franco 2022). While previous scholarship broadly defined the terminus ante quem as 1523, the year of Domenico Grimani's death (Franco 2022), or 1532–1533, when Montorsoli restored the ancient sculpture by reintegrating the missing arm (Leithe-Jasper 1986), it is possible to date the execution more precisely to around 1510–1515. This dating aligns with Nicoletto da Modena's print depicting the Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian within an architectural composition derived from Il Moderno’s Flagellation. The architectural layout and details such as the ruined dome and the ovals between the domes' pendentives are consistent in both works (see the British Museum example, inv. 1924,0617.23). Although Nicoletto’s print had been noted by scholars of Il Moderno, it was primarily regarding the plaque with Saint Sebastian (Lewis 1989; Warren 2014, III, 836–837). The proposed chronology of the Flagellation (post-1506, pre-1510–1515) suggests a plausible creation date in Rome (Leithe-Jasper 1986), coinciding with the period during which the decoration of the Stanza della Segnatura was developing (Agosti 1990). Additionally, Nicoletto's presence in Rome from 1507 and subsequently in Mantua in 1510 (Baracchi 1997; Fruci 2017) supports the possibility that he copied the work during this timeframe. Recently, it has been proposed that the Flagellation was Venetian commission following the defeat at Agnadello (1509), coinciding with Antonio Grimani’s return from Rome to Venice in July of the same year (Franco 2022). It is suggested that the plates of the Flagellation were created in four stages (Middeldorf, Goetz 1944; Franco 2022) or three stages (Santangelo 1964; Rossi 1974), and some do not include the ruined arch. The example in the Palazzo Venezia Museum originates from the Viennese collection of Ambassador Giacinto Auriti (Santangelo 1964; Cannata 1982; and cf. inv. 10827, inv. 10828, inv. 10830, inv. 10831). Contrary to what most scholars have stated, namely that the bronze plaques are all smaller than the silver one in Vienna, the example in the Palazzo Venezia Museum and the one in the Bardini Museum in Florence (Vannel, Toderi 1998) are almost the same size as the Viennese prototype. The Flagellation examined here is nearly a centimeter thick and features a back with the shapes of larger figures carved out. Some plaques have perforated arches: one in the Imbert collection (Imbert, Morazzoni 1941), one in Chicago, and one in Brescia (Rossi 1974). Among the various versions (Wixom 1975; Leithe-Jasper 1986; Vannel, Toderi 1998), notable examples can be found in Oxford (Warren 2014), Cleveland (Wixom 1975), Vienna (Planiscig 1924), the Louvre (Molinier 1886), Berlin (Bode 1897; Franco 2022), London (Pope-Hennessy 1965), two in Washington (inv. nos. 1957.14.293, 1942.9.242; Wilson 1983; Palmer 2001), Milan (Vismara 2003), and Florence (Vannel, Toderi 1998).

Giulio Pietrobelli

Entry published on 12 June 2025

Good. Natural brown patina, black lacquer.

Vienna, Collezione Giacinto Auriti, formed between 1922 and 1933, no. 7;
Rome, Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia, donated in 1963.

Cicognara Leopoldo, Storia della scultura dal suo risorgimento in Italia sino al secolo XIX, per servire di continuazione alle opere di Winkelmann e di D’Angicourt, 3 voll., Venezia 1813-1818: II, 1816, p. 433;
Molinier Émile, Les bronzes italiens de la Renaissance. Les plaquettes. Catalogue raisonné, Paris 1886, I, pp. 126, n. 169;
Bode Wilhelm (a cura di), Die Sammlung Oscar Hainauer, Berlin 1897, p. 94, n. 207;
Bange Ernst Friedrich (a cura di), Die Italienischen Brozen der Renaissance und des Barock: Riliefs und Plaketten, Berlin 1922, II, p. 62, n. 453, tav. 48;
Planiscig Leo, Die bronzeplastiken statuette, reliefs, gerate und plaketten. Katalog, Wien 1924, pp. 247-248, 250, nn. 408, 410;
De Ricci Seymour, The Gustave Dreyfus Collection. Reliefs and Plaquettes, Oxford 1931, pp. 129-130, nn. 167-168;
Imbert Eugenio, Morazzoni Giuseppe (a cura di), Le placchette italiane. Secolo XV-XIX. Contributo alla conoscenza della placchetta italiana, Milano 1941, p. 54, nn. 99-100, tav. XVIII;
Middeldorf Ulrich, Goetz Oswald, Medals and Plaquettes from the Sigmund Morgenroth Collection, Chicago 1944, pp. 33-34, nn. 230-231;
Cott Perry, Renaissance Bronzes: Statuettes, Reliefs and Plaquettes, Medals and Coins from The Kress Collection, Washington 1951, p. 151;
Pope-Hennessy John, The Italian Plaquette. Lecture on Aspects of Art, Henriette Hertz Trust of the British Academy, in «Proceedings of the British Academy», 50, 1964, pp. 63-85;
Santangelo Antonino, Museo di Palazzo Venezia. La collezione Auriti. Piccoli bronzi, placchette, incisioni e oggetti d’uso, Roma 1964, p. 36;
Pope-Hennessy John, Renaissance Bronzes from the Samuel Kress H. Collection. Reliefs, Plaquettes, Statuettes, Utensils and Mortars, London 1965, pp. 42-43, n. 134, fig. 171;
Rossi Francesco (a cura di), Musei Civici di Brescia. Placchette secoli XV-XIX, Vicenza 1974, pp. 37-38, n. 49, fig. 20;
Wixom William, Renaissance Bronzes from Ohio Collections, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland 1975, nn. 33-34;
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. 50, n. 26;
Wilson Carolyn, Renaissance Small Bronze Sculpture and Associated Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Art. Washington, Washington 1983, p. 107, n. 8;
Leithe-Jasper Manfred, Renaissance Master Bronzes from the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Washington 1986, pp.125-127, n. 25;
Lewis Douglas, The Plaquettes of Moderno and his Followers, in «Studies in the History of Art», 22, 1989, pp. 105-141;
Agosti Giovanni, Bambaia e il classicismo Lombardo, Torino 1990, pp. 80, 131-132, nota 87, figg. 40-41;
Baracchi Orianna, Ipotesi su Nicoletto da Modena, in «Atti e Memorie. Deputazione di storia patria per le antiche provincie modenesi», XIX, 1997, pp. 73-91;
Vannel Fiorenze, Toderi Giuseppe, Medaglie e Placchette del Museo Bardini di Firenze, Firenze 1998, pp.155-156, n. 188;
Palmer Allison Lee, The Walters’ Madonna and Child Plaquette and Private Devotional Art in Early Renaissance Italy, in «The Journal of the Walters Art Museum», 59, 2001, pp. 73-84,n. 26, fig. 8;
Vismara, in Gregori Mina (a cura di), In the Light of Apollo. Italian Renaissance and Greece, catalogo della mostra (Athens, National Gallery, Alexandros Soutzos Museum, 22 dicembre 2003-31 marzo 2004), 2 voll., Athens 2003, I, p. 382, n. VIII.30; II, p. 341;
Gasparotto Davide, Trevisani Filippo (a cura di), Bonacolsi l’Antico. Uno scultore nella Mantova di Andrea Mantegna e di Isabella d’Este, catalogo della mostra (Mantova, Corte Vecchia, 13 settembre 2008-6 gennaio 2009), Milano 2008, pp. 278-279, n. VIII.5
Gasparotto, in Beltramini Guido, Gasparotto Davide, Manieri Elia Giulio (a cura di), Aldo Manuzio. Il Rinascimento di Venezia, catalogo della mostra (Venezia, Gallerie dell’Accademia, 19 marzo-19 giugno 2016), Venezia 2016, pp. 266, 268, n. 54;
Warren Jeremy (a cura di), Medieval and Renaissance Sculpture. A Catalogue of the Collection in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, III. Plaquettes, Oxford 2014, pp. 847-849, n. 303;
Fruci Gianluca, Rosex, Nicoletto, detto Nicoletto da Modena, in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, 88, Roma 2017;
Franco Maria Teresa, La Flagellazione del Moderno per il "nobilissimo studiolo" Grimani, in «Ricche Minere», 17, 2022, pp. 32-52.