Peter Flötner (c. 1485-1546), Temptation of Faith, bronze plaquette, set in a mountainous and wooded landscape is the seated figure of Faith, a cross at her feet, bare breasted and in a forlorn attitude, pointing over her shoulder to a burning city on the horizon; around her are demons in the form of two human-headed animals, a hooded man emerging from a hole in a tree proffering a sausage, and on the far right a monk clothed in a barrel on the back of a monstrous bird appearing out of a doorway; behind the tree is a church and chapel and on the left a tower and bridge over a river, 99mm x 114mm (Weber 38; Molinari 371 [later cast in bronze]; Bange (1923) 5689, in lead; Leitschuh, F.F., Flötner-Studien 1, 1904, pl. 8, 85), chamfered edges, extremely fine contemporary cast with brown patina, the reverse with two old labels (one over the other, the top one numbered “27 II”), very rare. This surely counts as one of Flötner’s most elaborate compositions and he produced a similarly nightmarish but smaller plaquette of The Temptation of Patience (Weber 37). Weber dated the present plaquette to 1535 but in the Molinari catalogue she gave it a wider berth of c. 1535-40. An inferior cast was in the Cyril Humphris collection at Sotheby’s New York, 11 January 1995, lot 307 where it was noted that the composition relates to the mythological story of Pandora’s box which released all the evils of mankind when it was opened. Only the virtue of Hope remained and the present plaquette represents the consummation of Faith by the released demons. For another plaquette of Flötner see lot 324.

Estimate: GBP £3’000 - £5’000