Not currently on display at the V&A

Faith

Medal
16th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is a lead medal made after Peter Flötner in the 16th century in Nuremberg. The medal has an obverse only which represents Faith in high relief holding a chalice.
Flötner (ca. 1485-1546) was a sculptor, medallist, cabinetmaker, woodcutter and designer. He worked initially in Augsburg from around 1512 to 1516 before moving to Nuremberg where he became a citizen in 1522. Changes in Flötner's style after around 1530 suggest he may have travelled to Italy. His workshop catered for bell-founders, goldsmiths, pewterers and medallists supplying them with plaques made of lead, tin, bronze and solnhofen limestone. They were used like pattern books. The plaques were arranged in lines and a clay or plaster mould was made from them. In these moulds wax models were cast which were then applied to the outside of the wax models of bells, mortars and tankards before they were cast in metal.



Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleFaith (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Lead
Brief description
Medal, lead, Faith, German (Nuremberg), after Peter Flötner, 16th century
Physical description
Obverse only, seated Faith in high relief, holding a chalice.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 3.17cm
Object history
Provenance: Tross. 140 medals and reliefs were purchased from M. Henri Tross of Paris for £500 by J.C. Robinson for the Museum in 1867.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This is a lead medal made after Peter Flötner in the 16th century in Nuremberg. The medal has an obverse only which represents Faith in high relief holding a chalice.
Flötner (ca. 1485-1546) was a sculptor, medallist, cabinetmaker, woodcutter and designer. He worked initially in Augsburg from around 1512 to 1516 before moving to Nuremberg where he became a citizen in 1522. Changes in Flötner's style after around 1530 suggest he may have travelled to Italy. His workshop catered for bell-founders, goldsmiths, pewterers and medallists supplying them with plaques made of lead, tin, bronze and solnhofen limestone. They were used like pattern books. The plaques were arranged in lines and a clay or plaster mould was made from them. In these moulds wax models were cast which were then applied to the outside of the wax models of bells, mortars and tankards before they were cast in metal.

Bibliographic references
  • Weber, I. Deutsche, Niederländische, und Französische Renaissance Plaketten. Munich, 1975, p. 85, no. 64, 1
  • Inventory of Art Objects acquired in the Year 1867. Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol. 1. London : Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 17
Collection
Accession number
111-1867

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Record createdJanuary 20, 2004
Record URL
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