Object Description
377 ALLEGORY OF UNITY
Left, the figure of a father on a bench raised by three steps on a two-stage platform breaks a rod in two. Before him, a figure breaks a single rod while another figure attempts to break a bound bundle of rods at the foot of the platform. To the right stand the sons observing the demonstration of the strength of unity. In the background a columned arcade.
Lead, semicircular top, 53 x 39 mm.
This scene represents an antique fable, "The Father and the Rods," transmitted by Babrius (Babrius Fabeln, translated by Hertzberg, Halle/S., 1846, p. 24. Dr. Friedrich Kobler, Munich, is to be thanked for pointing out the literary source.). Stylistically, the plaquette is related to the series of scenes of justice based upon the Gesta Romanorum, attributed to the workshop of the so-called Blattfriesmeister (Weber, no. 82).
Bibl.: Weber, no. 181.
