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Auction: 390 - Renaissance Plaquettes and Commemorative Medals featuring the Neil A. Goodman Collection - e-Auction
Lot: 179

GERMANY (ca. 1460-1470)
Triumph of the Goddess Minne. Round plaquette. Bronze, 87mm. The glorious figure of the May Goddess, the personification of courtly love, in a transparent robe having left her fortress of Minneborg in the background walks elegantly through a circle of men who transfixed by her and the apple of love which she holds toward them swing wildly in dance; in the background is a drummer to the left of the fortress and two lovers to the right.
The concept that Love makes one foolish is highlighted here by the artist who has attached bells to the men who dance around Minne in curious postures. Minne [mine] is a middle high German word for love used widely in poetry and songs praising a loved one. There are no Bandrollen or inscriptions that would interfere with the clear, straight-forward representation; the wild dancers are swinging like ribbons around the noble figure of the goddess. Among the applied uses for these types of plaquettes is the ornamentation of small boxes (for examples see Bode and Volbach "Gotische Formmodel" (Berlin 1918). A Very Fine early or contemporary cast. Possibly the Albert Figdor specimen (whereabouts unknown).
Also included: Gotische Formmodel. Eine Vergessene Gattung der Deutschen Kleinplastik. By Wilhelm v. Bode and W.F. Volbach. Berlin 1918. Small folio, 46pp, 8 plates, 30 text illust. Boards (slightly worn and supported in spots). Dedication on frontispage: inscribed to Paul Drey from Albert Figdor 1919. Very Good. (2)
From the Neil A. Goodman Collection

Sold for
$1,250

Starting price
$475