Ulocrino, St. Jerome, bronze plaquette, early 16th century, St Jerome standing facing between a dead tree and a jagged rock-face; he holds a stone and cross and a skull rests on the rock-face at base of which is a book; the lion is at his feet, 94.4 x 55.4mm (Bange 419 = Planiscig p. 465, fig. 574; cf. Molinier 248 var.; Kress 236, fig. 340 var.; Warren, Ashmolean, 343 var.; Bargello 212 var.; Scaglia VII.1, variant B), twice pierced at top, a very fine contemporary cast with brown patina, very rare. Provenance: Pablo Bosch y Barrau (1842-1915), Balclis auction, Barcelona, 29 October 2014, lot 641. Pablo Bosch was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Prado Museum, appointed in 1912 and on his death bequeathed his major collection of medals, coins and other art works to the Prado. This is the rare larger variant of the St. Jerome plaquette (unrecorded in Molinier) and is twice pierced in the same way as the example cited in Berlin; the more commonly encountered smaller versions are signed VLOCRINO with the tree on the left changed to a ruined arch and with certain other alterations. Ulocrino has been closely associated with Andrea Briosco, called Riccio and some authorities have identified him as the master himself. Jeremy Warren, in the Ashmolean catalogue, attributes the smaller signed version to Riccio or his workshop. There is another version of this plaquette in lower relief and by a later hand (as Molinier 247 and Kress 245, fig. 350).

Estimate: GBP 4000 - 6000