This bronze plaquette is made in the late 15th century or early 16th century by the so called Master of IO. F.F.
It depicts Gaius Mucius Scaevola and a battle subject with legend.
The format of the plaquette was developed in the mid 15th century, arguably by the artist Filarete and Cardinal Pietro Barbo, later Pope Paul II, (1464-1471), in the bronze foundries he established in Rome. Pietro Barbo was a renowned collector and patron.
The best examples of Italian plaquettes were produced between c.1485 and 1530, and were limited to central and northern Italy. In their purest form they were by definition light and of a size that could be held comfortably in the hand for close inspection. Unlike portrait medals they were one sided. They were modest in their relief and often used rilievo schiacciato, a very shallow form of relief, to give a subtle illusion of depth, as used to the extreme for the hill-town in the backround of this plaquette. This differentiates the plaquette from larger bronze reliefs, along with the fact that up to 50 were cast from the same moulds. Plaquettes were usually bronze but they were also cast in brass, lead or precious metals.