Door ornament
19th century, after 16th century original
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
Height: 5 in. (12.7 cm)
Classification
Metalwork-Electrotype
Culture
British, after Italian original
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Henry G. Marquand, 1883
Accession Number
83.18.286
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite bronze door ornament, titled *Door Ornament*, is a 19th-century electrotype reproduction of a 16th-century original the renowned Italian Renaissance sculptor and architect Jacopo Sansov (Jacopo Tatti, 1486–1570). Standing just 5 inches (12.7 cm) tall, it exemplifies Sansovino's mastery of classical forms, likely featuring intricate sculpted heads—common in Renaissance decorative metalwork for doors, evoking the grotesque or portrait-like motifs inspired by antiquity. Sansovino, a pivotal figure in Venetian Renaissance art, blended Florentine precision with High Renaissance gran...