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Doorknocker

late 15th–early 16th century
Not on view
A knocker inserted through the wood of a door, when struck against a metal plate that was likewise affixed to the door, allowed visitors to announce their presence to those within. This bronze knocker was cast in the form of a ring, around which was forged the horizontal iron strap that held it in place; the narrow slot at the end of the strap helped secure it on the other side of the door with an iron wedge. The weight and thickness imply a door of considerable stoutness. The object shows plenty of age and use, evincing a rich natural patina, nicks, and a well-rubbed, slightly flattened area behind the lower back of the knocker, where it struck the now-missing plate. The ringlike composition incorporates acanthus and sea creatures somewhat resembling dolphins, the mouths of which form a bezel of sorts for the diamond in which it terminates. The most celebrated imagery to include a diamond belonged to the Medici family in Florence, but it lacked acanthus and dolphinlike sea life.[1] The ring could signify any marital alliance. The handsome forms and facture of this unstudied object do not, for that matter, appear particularly Florentine.
-JDD

Footnotes
(For key to shortened references see bibliography in Allen, Italian Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2022.)


1. No such combinations appear in Langedijk 1981–87.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Doorknocker
  • Date: late 15th–early 16th century
  • Culture: Central Italian
  • Medium: Bronze, iron pin
  • Dimensions: Overall (confirmed): 11 7/8 × 6 1/2 × 2 in. (30.2 × 16.5 × 5.1 cm)
  • Classification: Metalwork-Bronze
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1927
  • Object Number: 27.14.13
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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