Nomos 5

Germany, Augsburg. c. 1600 (for the original). Plaquette (Bronze, 119 x 86mm, 243 g), c. 1700. Christ, his arms bound behind him, a cloak over his shoulders and a cloth over his loins, standing facing at the bottom of a flight of steps, his head turned slightly to left; on the left, a bearded priest, wearing long robes and a turban, stands facing on the step behind, pointing at something held in his hand; on the right, on the step above, a soldier, wearing shorter robes, boots and a wide-brimmed hat, stands facing, holding the fetters that bind Christ, but looking away from him to the right, his face covered by his hat; behind, in the arched doorway at the top of the steps, a crowd of men, some holding pikes. Rev. Plain, with some areas of incuse behind the high relief areas on the obverse; remains of attachment nails at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock. Ciechanowiecki 458 (18th century). E. Imbert, Le placchette italiane, secoli XV-XIX (Milan, 1941), 168. F. Rossi, Musei civici di Brescia. Placchette secoli XV-XIX (Vicenza, 1974), 210. Weber 451. Rare and very well made with a fine olive-brown patina. Extremely fine.

Ex Nomos 5, 25 October 2011, 24 and Astarte XVIII, 9 May 2005, 340.

While previously termed Italian, this seems more likely to be from southern Germany, probably Augsburg. This casting lacks the details found on the piece illustrated in Weber (on the steps, for example) and was probably made in the later 17th or early 18th century (as the Ciechanowiecki example).