Pseudo-Fra Antonio da Brescia (early 16th century), Allegory of Virtue and Vice, bronze plaquette, a nymph asleep supporting a child on either side of her and approached by two satyrs, one of whom uncovers her and the other carries a branch; VIRTVS inscribed on plinth behind her, 58.5mm (Molinier 122; Bange 645; Morgenroth 266; Scaglia III.17; Warren, Ashmolean, 335), pierced, an extremely fine contemporary cast with brown patina. The precise identity of the artist remains uncertain. Douglas Lewis has called him the Vicentine Master of 1507 and Michael Riddick has compared his style to that of Francesco Francia, the Bolognese painter, goldsmith and medallist. This plaquette type is related to an engraving by Benedetto Montagna of c. 1500-1520 (see Warren, Ashmolean, p. 878, fig. 325). Fine examples of the two other plaquettes given to this artist, Apollo and Python and Abundance with a Satyr were sold in these rooms on 14 December 2015, lots 164 and 165.
Estimate: 1000 - 1500