Profile figures of a satyr and bacchante face each other beneath a term representing the ancient fertility god, Priapus. A Latin inscription reads: NATVRA FOVET QUAE NECESSITAS VRGET ('Nature encourages what necessity demands'). Both the wording and the figures suggest that the relief is an allegory of reproduction.
It was once thought that the great Florentine sculptor Donatello (1386-1466) made the mirror. The Museum purchased it in 1863 from the Martelli family, with whom Donatello was associated. But the style of the piece differs from Donatello's other bronze reliefs. The exquisite detailing suggests that an accomplished goldsmith made it. A circular cutting from a document was discovered inside the mirror in the late 1950s. It was written largely in cipher. The contents of the text, together with a watermark, indicate that it came from the secret diplomatic archive in Milan. This suggests that the mirror was manufactured in Milan in the late 1400s. It also supports the view that Caradosso, a goldsmith and maker of plaquettes, made it. He was active in the city between 1475 and 1505.
Physical description
Circular and double sided mirror, with a figurated bronze relief on the front and a steel plate for the mirror at the back. Both are enclosed in a moulded gilt bronze frame, with a bronze lobe at the bottom and at the top, beneath the handle, a double-sided Medusa head surmounted by wings parcel gilt.
Front: shows two figures behind a parapet or wall, which cuts off a segment at the base of the scene. That on the right represents a Bacchante in left profile, with a wreath of ivy leaves on her head and a tyrsus behind her. Her goat-skin cloak and her robe are thrown back from her left shoulder, leaving her left breast exposed, and from this with her left hand she presses milk into a rhyton. The figure on the left represents a bearded Satyr in profile to the right. He wears a wreath of ivy leaves and a goat-skin which is cast back. leaving the upper half of the body bare. He holds a goblet in his right hand; his left hand is raised, with the index and small fingers extended. Behind him is a thyrsus.
In the centre foreground is the mask of an old woman above a label with the inscription:
NATVRA FOVET / QVAE / NECESSITAS VRGET [mirror case]
Place of Origin
Mantua
Date
ca. 1495-1500 [mirror case] (made)
ca. 1475-1500 (made)
Artist/maker
Caradosso
Materials and Techniques
Paper, watermarked [cutting found inside mirror]
Bronze inlaid with gold and silver [mirror case]
Marks and inscriptions
"NATVRA FOVET / QVAE / NECESSITAS VRGET" Nature encourages what necessity demands. In the centre foreground is the mask of an old woman above a label with the inscription [mirror case]
Dimensions
Height: 29.7 cm [mirror case]
Width: 19.5 cm [mirror case]
Depth: 2.8 cm [mirror case]
Weight: 2.56 kg [mirror case]
Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries [Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries]
Object history note
The mirror is mentioned as in the Palazzo Martelli in 1824. See Pope-Hennessy p.326.
Historical context note
The scene on the Mirror is a sythesis of five classical motifs, one of which certainly, and two possibly, stem from originals at one time in the Medici collection.
The bacchante corresponds with a 1731 engraving of gem described at that as being in the Medici collection. The same gem is listed in 1492 in the collection of Lorenzo de' Medici . The satyr corresponds to another 1731 engraving of gem described as at that time being in the collection of Conti Gherardesca.( See Pope-Hennessy) [mirror case]
Descriptive line
Mirror case, known as the Martelli Mirror, bronze with gold and silver, ca. 1475-1500, Italy
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Pope-Hennessy, John Catalogue of Italian sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum London, H.M.S.O. , 1964 no.359, pp 325-329 (708.21 VIC)
This catalogue entry discusses the history of this object's acquisition, its attributional history, sources, other versions and related plaquettes.
Brown, Clifford M. and Hickson, Sally "Caradosso Foppa (ca. 1452-1526/27)" in Arte Lombarda vol 119 1997/1 p. 14
The entire article (pp. 9-39) consists of an overview of the archival documents and the contemporary and post mortem literature; a brief account of the surviving oeuvre; documentation of the artist's Milanese and Roman years and the post-mortem literature, and a comprehensive bibliography. The reference to the object consists of "While the attribution of .... "the Martelli mirror" remains problematic ..."
Labels and date
MIRROR, known as The Martelli Mirror
About 1475-1500
This mirror was probably a marriage gift, and its intricate decoratin suggests that it may have been made by a master goldsmith. The satyr holding a cup (left) and the bacchante pressing milk from her breast (right) represent an allegory of reproduction. The mirror itself takes the form of a polished steel plate on the back.
Italy, probably Mantua
Bronze, gold and silver
Inscribed in Latin, 'Nature encourages what necessity demands'
Museum no. 8717-1863
Attribution Note
Milan or Mantua [mirror case]
Materials
Silver; Gold; Bronze
Techniques
Inlay (process)
Subjects depicted
Masks; Satyr; Bacchante; Medusa; Antique; Thyrsus; Panpipes; Perseus; Fertility; Rhyton; Auloi; Fare le Corna
Categories
Sculpture; Accessories
Collection code
SCP
