Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary - medallion

cast brass with lost wax, chiseled, engraved, gilded, in molded wooden frame;
oval: 21.4 x 17.8 cm;
Augsburg, probably before 1600.

cf: I. Weber, "Deutsche, Niederlaendische und Franzoesische Renaissanceplaketten 1500-1650," München 1975, p. 234, figs. 454, 454 a.

expert opinions:
- artistic - by the curator Stanisława Odrzywolska,
- metallurgical - by Dr. Maria Ligęza and Prof. Zbigniew Kędzierski.

The composition of the medallion with a centrally placed figure of kneeling Mary in flowing, breaking robes; on the sides Christ and God the Father supporting the crown together; above them hovers the Dove of the Holy Spirit. The scene takes place among clouds, surrounded by winged angel heads.
A similar one was already used in 1504. - in the cycle "Life of Mary" by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), as well as by Marten de Vos (1531-1603) - but, as S. Odrzywolska rightly notes, the closest known graphic prototype that the Augsburg artist could have used is a work by Jan Sadeler the Elder from around 1590.
The few pieces of the plaques that have survived, in excellent European collections, are close to the one offered here. Made in a variety of materials (lead, copper, bronze and silver), with often different shapes, they allow us to place our cast in the first ranks.
Known from silver realizations of Augsburg plaques make it possible, thanks to city punches, to date them to the last decade of the 16th century. This thesis is fully confirmed by metallurgical analyses of the object made at AGH.
Such valuable relics of Renaissance plastic art, rarely found at world auctions, have been sought after by collectors for almost three centuries.