Sacrifice to Priapus 1437 - 1473

Cristoforo di Geremia's "Sacrifice to Priapus" (1437-1473) is a bronze plaquette depicting a Roman fertility god. The artwork, now housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, features a scene of figures offering sacrifices to Priapus, a Roman deity often depicted with exaggerated genitalia. The plaquette, small in size but rich in detail, showcases the artist's ability to capture the intricacies of classical mythology through bronze relief. The inscription "L.G.I" likely refers to the patron for whom the piece was created. This type of plaquette, a small, often portable relief, was popular in Renaissance Italy, and served as a decorative element, a devotional object, or even a small-scale work of art.