LATE 16TH, OR 17TH CENTURY

細節

A Rare Italian Painted Parade Shield
Late 16th, or 17th Century
Of convex form, painted black, the inner face plain and with later arm-pad (incomplete), the outer face painted in gold with scenes from the Trojan wars based on the Iliad, the figures in late 16th century courtly attire, including Achilles and Agamemnon, in the background the Goddess Athene in the form of an owl grasping the figure of Achilles (some areas filled, scattered over-painting)
21½in. (54.6cm.) diameter

注意事項

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

拍品專文

Cf. a similar shield in the Odescalchi Collection, Rome (N. di Carpegna, Antiche Armi dal Sec. IX al XVIII gia Collezione Odescalchi, Rome, 1969, cat. no. 177)

Italian painted shields, of which at least fifty are known, were in some cases decorated by major artists: Leonardo de Vinci (1452-1519) is reputed (according to Giorgio Vasari) to have painted one, and two have survived, respectively by Jan van der Straet (1523-1605) and Caravaggio (1571-1610). The last is the famous "Medusa" shield of circa 1596, in the Uffizi, Florence
For an account of such shields see Stuart W. Pyhrr and Everett Fahy, 'A Renaissance Painted Shield Attributed to Girolamo da Treviso', Studies in European Arms and Armour, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1992, pp. 100-104