The Rape of Ganymede thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Medieval & Renaissance, Room 62, The Foyle Foundation Gallery

The Rape of Ganymede

Plaquette
ca. 1540 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Plaquettes are small plaques made of bronze, brass, lead or precious metals. They originated in the 1440s with the desire to reproduce coins and hardstone engravings from ancient Greece and Rome. Some were made as collector’s pieces, to be viewed and displayed in private, and others for practical purposes. They also inspired designs in other media, from architecture to bookbindings. This frequently encountered plaquette shows Ganymede swept into the heavens by Jupiter in the guise of an eagle. It is taken from a lost rock crystal engraving that Bernardi produced for Cardinal Ippolito de’ Medici. He adapted the composition from a drawing that Michelangelo made in the winter of 1532.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThe Rape of Ganymede (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Bronze
Brief description
Elliptical bronze plaque depicting the Rape of Ganymede, probably moulded from an engraved crystal, after a design by Michelangelo, by Giovanni Bernardi, Italy, 16th century
Physical description
Elliptical bronze plaque depicting the Rape of Ganymede, probably moulded from an engraved crystal
Dimensions
  • Height: 6.9cm
  • Width: 9.1cm
  • Depth: 0.5cm
  • Weight: 0.08kg
Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries
Object history
Formerly in the Gherardini Collection of artists’ terracotta and wax models Acquired in 1854
Production
After a design by Michelangelo, by Giovanni Bernardi
Subject depicted
Summary
Plaquettes are small plaques made of bronze, brass, lead or precious metals. They originated in the 1440s with the desire to reproduce coins and hardstone engravings from ancient Greece and Rome. Some were made as collector’s pieces, to be viewed and displayed in private, and others for practical purposes. They also inspired designs in other media, from architecture to bookbindings. This frequently encountered plaquette shows Ganymede swept into the heavens by Jupiter in the guise of an eagle. It is taken from a lost rock crystal engraving that Bernardi produced for Cardinal Ippolito de’ Medici. He adapted the composition from a drawing that Michelangelo made in the winter of 1532.
Bibliographic references
  • Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1854. In: Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, Arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol I. London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 22.
  • Maclagan, Eric. Catalogue of Italian Plaquettes . London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1924, p. 70.
  • Pope-Hennessy, John. Renaissance Bronzes from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. Reliefs - Plaquettes - Statuettes - Utensils and Mortars . London: 1965, p. 14, no. 33, fig. 382.
  • Martini, Luciana. Piccoli bronzi e placchette del Museo Nazionale di Ravenna. Bologna: University Press, 1985, pp. 182-183, no. 60 for another version
  • Satzinger, Georg and Schütze, Sebastian, Der Göttliche. Hommage an Michelangelo, Bonn: Bundeskunsthalle, 2015, exh. cat., p. 237, cat. no. 179
Collection
Accession number
4120-1854

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Record createdAugust 24, 2004
Record URL
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