The Presentation of Christ in the Temple thumbnail 1
The Presentation of Christ in the Temple thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Medieval & Renaissance, Room 62, The Foyle Foundation Gallery

The Presentation of Christ in the Temple

Plaquette
1540-1550 (made)
Artist/Maker
Belli, Valerio (maker)
Place of origin
Italy (made)

Plaquettes are small reliefs 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 or devotional purposes, such as decorations for caskets, ink-stands and paxes. Belli spent the most important part of his career in Rome, working for two successive popes. Almost all of his bronze plaquettes are cast from his engravings in rock crystal or hardstone. This signed plaquette derives from a rock-crystal plaque that formed part of Belli's masterpiece, a casket with 24 scenes from the life of Christ, completed for Pope Clement VII in 1537. The bronze would have been cast from a plaster or brass mould deriving from the original hardstone engraving.


Object details

Categories
Sculpture
Christianity
Plaques & Plaquettes
Artists' Multiples
Object type
Plaquette
TitleThe Presentation of Christ in the Temple (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Moulded bronze
Bronze
Moulding
Brief description
Plaquette, bronze, depicting the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, by Valerio Belli, Italy, 16th century
Physical description
Bronze plaquette depicting the Presentation of Christ in the Temple. Simeon stands to the left of the draped altar holding the Child, behind him are three men; to the right is the Virgin carrying a candle in her right hand, behind her are two women one of whom holds a basket with two doves. In the background is a domed temple on the frieze of which is the inscription 'VALERIVS VICETINVS'. The plaquette has a narrow moulded rim, and a hole drilled for suspension in the centre at the top.
Dimensions
  • Height: 5.8cm
  • Width: 5.7cm
  • Depth: 0.3cm
Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries
Marks and inscriptions
VALERIUS VICETINUS (Signature across pediment of temple behind figures)
Translation
Valerio Vicentino (Valerio Belli)
Object history
Bought in Florence.

Historical significance: Moulded from an impression of a rock crystal intaglio engraving on the casket of Clement VII in the Museo degli Argenti, Florence. Versions of the plaquette are recorded in the Berlin State Museum, the Este collection and the Naples Museum. For all the bronze versions see Burns et al 2000.
Historical context
Shows how images known from engraved gems and hardstones persisted and often appeared again in bronze plaquettes and small reliefs.
Subjects depicted
Simeon
Mary (Virgin Mary)
The Presentation in the Temple
Summary
Plaquettes are small reliefs 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 or devotional purposes, such as decorations for caskets, ink-stands and paxes. Belli spent the most important part of his career in Rome, working for two successive popes. Almost all of his bronze plaquettes are cast from his engravings in rock crystal or hardstone. This signed plaquette derives from a rock-crystal plaque that formed part of Belli's masterpiece, a casket with 24 scenes from the life of Christ, completed for Pope Clement VII in 1537. The bronze would have been cast from a plaster or brass mould deriving from the original hardstone engraving.
Associated object
7374-1861
Bibliographic references
  • Maclagan, E, Catalogue of Italian Plaquettes, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1924, p.62
  • Fortnum, C D E, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Bronzes of European Origin in the South Kensington Museum, London, 1876, p.72
  • Molinier, E, Les Plaquettes: catalogue raisonné, Paris, 1886, no.263
  • Kris, E, Meister und meisterwerke der steinschneidekunst in der Italienischen Renaissance, Vienna, 1929 (reprinted 1979), p.162, no.170
  • Burns, H, Collareta, M, Gasparotto, D, Valerio Belli Vicentino 1468c.-1546, Vicenza, 2000, p.324, no.31.2
  • Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1861 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. 31
  • Maclagan, Eric. Catalogue of Italian Plaquettes . London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1924, p. 62
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
7371-1861

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Record createdSeptember 2, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O103091/the-presentation-of-christ-in-plaquette-belli-valerio/
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