15929993440001312637261000Standard Recordobject-12198170292702332717029081470001702926927925fitz-onlineadlib-object-12198https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/121982574e77e-a62d-3a9b-bef3-ad11742ae43d9personreferenceagent-152818adlib-agent-152818010cc02a-ac01-3db3-b930-e8c21cd64457Achillespersonreferenceagent-152959adlib-agent-152959f81817f9-943a-3f82-ab96-0b4293073d03shepherdsreferenceterm-98228adlib-term-982283d747999-296f-3944-9a84-2936c3ae9f5csculptureDetailsreferenceterm-29641adlib-term-296412cca4338-6a77-3f63-9174-0a137a118930chasingreferenceterm-1111adlib-term-111146c949dd-f376-3538-878f-397baee5be09mythologyApplied ArtsBronze, cast and chased. The design is inspired by the shield forged by the Greek god Hephaestus for Achilles during the war between the Greeks and the Trojans, and is described in detail in book 18 of Homer's 'Iliad' (lines 478-609). During the course of the war between the Greeks and the Trojans, Achilles' close friend Patroclus was killed by the Trojan king's son Hector, whilst leading the Greeks disguised as Achilles. Hector took Achilles' armour from Patroclus' body. Achilles' mother, the nymph Thetis, asked Hephaestus to make a new set of armour for her son. Grief-stricken after the death of his friend, Achilles then wore the armour and used the shield in his famous fight against Hector, whom he killed. The centre of the shield depicts the heavens, with the chariot of the Sun surrounded by the constellations. The reliefs radiating outwards, around the centre of the shield, begin at the bottom with (1) the marriage procession and banquet, and proceed in an anticlockwise direction with: (2) the quarrel of citizens over a homicide and the judicial appeal by elders; (3) the siege and ambuscade; (4) the harvest field; (5) the grape harvest; (6) the shepherds defending their flocks; and (7) the Cretan dance. The border depicts the oceans. On the reverse there are four rings for suspension at the top, and a cross bar with a central hole. The reverse is engraved close to the edge 'DESIGNED AND MODELLED BY JOHN FLAXMAN RA/EXECUTED BY RUNDELL BRIDGE & RUNDELL JEWELLERS TO HIS MAJESTY/MDCCXXIV' (1824)referenceexhibition-1909adlib-exhibition-1909364ab537-1781-3ca7-98eb-8ca46702e15bRoyal Goldsmiths: The Art of Rundell & Bridge 1797-1843no numbers, last itemreferenceexhibition-1988adlib-exhibition-1988ab970555-97b2-36fd-afa0-e74c1089ee29From Reason to Revolution, Art and Society in Eighteenth-Century BritainM.1-18421accession numberM.1-184212198priref12198external IDCAM_CCF_M_1_1842urihttps://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/12198https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/12198referenceagent-149638adlib-agent-1496387376d833-d0a7-3be0-916e-9c892b7a24d8The Fitzwilliam MuseumGiven by Rundell and Bridgereferenceagent-152960adlib-agent-15296040cd3c7a-fb0d-33a7-a6e5-3bfc75f0a3e0Rundell & Bridge184218421842givenEntry date: 18421824CE1824dated1824afterdesignerreferenceagent-45771adlib-agent-45771b9e1e92c-edf1-3a4c-a4eb-f5fbaae070a3Flaxman, Johnmakerreferenceagent-173123adlib-agent-173123c4b6edf7-00e4-3f79-8601-fa462448a1a1Rundell, Bridge and Rundellprobablychaserreferenceagent-108354adlib-agent-108354c31dfe64-fbb0-393c-9abe-3ba0ad1ba419Pitts, WilliamIt is unclear whether the idea for the shield came from Rundell, Bridge and Rundell, the London-based royal goldsmiths and jewellers, or from John Flaxman. Nor is the exact date of the commission to Flaxman known. The first documented reference to the shield is in a letter of 29 October 1810 from Rundell, Bridge and Rundell, in which a payment of 100 guineas 'for the beautiful design of the shield of Achilles' is mentioned (volume of autograph letters to the poet William Hayley, now Fitzwilliam Museum, fol. 98). Flaxman recorded a further payment of £200 for the design on 4 January 1817 in his ledger, and a payment of £525 for the model on 20 January 1818. The model was probably made in wax or clay. It was then cast in plaster, and the finer details carved into it. It appears that three (or more) bronze casts were made (documented as finished by William Pitts), followed by the first cast in silver in summer 1819. The latter was probably the silver gilt cast bought by George IV in early 1821 (hallmarked for 1821-22), which was displayed at the coronation banquet that same year and remains in the Royal Collection. A total of five silver gilt casts were made. A limited edition of probably only three casts in plaster was also made. The present bronze cast is dated 1824.referenceterm-106498adlib-term-106498272179a1-524b-3f36-aab7-bf342ce484d619th Century, Early#referenceterm-108976adlib-term-108976dc8f08bb-8cb5-3af0-a884-9780ec8d0e12George IVreferenceterm-106216adlib-term-106216825b8379-ec94-388e-9a59-624e40c090d0literalEnglandEnglandcountryLondonreferenceterm-40365adlib-term-40365d79c75c2-da7b-3187-918e-f7a374e04005bronzeDiametercm89.50referencemedia-11804adlib-media-11804d20514c4-c7ec-3a9e-87f3-39a9405754c3jpegaa/aa20/M_1_1842.jpg1heightpixels745widthpixels76017029267146321imagejpegaa/aa20/mid_M_1_1842.jpg1heightpixels490widthpixels50017029267146321imagejpegaa/aa20/M_1_1842.jpg1heightpixels745widthpixels76017029267146321imagejpegaa/aa20/preview_M_1_1842.jpg1heightpixels245widthpixels25017029267146321image0media
imagereferencemedia-2665954926portfolio-media-2665954926ede489d6-867f-33ce-b5e5-2a8fdf259994jpegportfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/600/733/large_M_1_1842_mas.jpg1heightpixels1003widthpixels102415398564100001imagejpegportfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/600/733/mid_M_1_1842_mas.jpg1heightpixels490widthpixels50015398564100001imageM.1-1842_mas.tif153985641000011imagejpegportfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/600/733/preview_M_1_1842_mas.jpg1heightpixels245widthpixels25015398564100001imagepyramid tiffportfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/600/733/M_1_1842_mas.ptif1heightpixels4630widthpixels472515398564100001image1media
imagereferenceterm-107516adlib-term-107516146a0bfc-a677-3f01-8f8a-18d01ec5f2f2shieldhistory noteCast by Messrs. Rundell & Bridgereferenceagent-149638adlib-agent-1496387376d833-d0a7-3be0-916e-9c892b7a24d8The Fitzwilliam Museumreference numberliteralnameSculpture UKSculpture UKPubl. p. 321, checklist no. 72p. 321referencepublication-3259adlib-publication-3259a66336df-0598-3f93-8c6d-4d1fa070ea38Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes from the Fitzwilliam Museum, CambridgePubl. p. 108, fig.103, black and white, cited for comparison with one of five silver-gilt examples cast in 1822 for the 3rd Duke of Northumberland, and now belonging to His Excellency Mohamed Mahdi Altajir. See fig. 100 for one of Flaxman's preparatory drawings for the section of the shield depicting War.103referencepublication-5290adlib-publication-52900d3ae989-80f8-3bdd-a4fd-f9a746669615Royal Goldsmiths: The Art of Rundell & Bridge 1797-1843referencepublication-6022adlib-publication-60221c2abfdc-fa9a-3f6d-ad9d-7ba39a6fc0b8From Reason to Revolution, Art and Society in Eighteenth-Century BritainRef. Original exhibited in 1979, pp. 145-47, no. 187.pp. 145-47referencepublication-1022adlib-publication-1022fa5c8d1c-11cd-3073-b813-1eb48445858aJohn Flaxman, R.A.Cf. p.64p.64referencepublication-1072adlib-publication-1072cc21b4e3-d3f9-337a-859e-ce6392a2cc4fCatalogue of European Sculpture in the Ashmolean Museum, 1540 to the present dayCf. pp. 126-38, lot 159, the silver-gilt example of 1823 which belonged to Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and King of Hanover. The text includes on p. 131 two sketches by Flaxman for the shield (British Museum)126-38referencepublication-6059adlib-publication-6059b6d6bfbd-3034-38b9-90a9-3d408f85ab51Important Silver, Gold Boxes & Objects of Vertureferenceterm-9044adlib-term-904499dcb503-1a64-3792-8a40-48eda95dd763Neoclassicalobject namereferenceterm-107505adlib-term-107505c3d7bf9c-773c-34aa-80e1-8d38aa516639chariotactivityreferenceterm-26114adlib-term-261141926c765-52f0-3ef2-b91f-cdb8bac55402processingactivityreferenceterm-107311adlib-term-1073119887cb8c-0a10-3902-a5bc-478e6fb2a037eatingactivityreferenceterm-107677adlib-term-107677a7e7aed9-503b-3bb7-abe3-a3a8c2bf6704quarrelingactivityreferenceterm-125899adlib-term-1258995eed473b-72ec-3fd0-8895-cbbe74338c69besiegingplace typereferenceterm-4479adlib-term-4479e9b79da3-e765-387a-b2a0-d3ad83e69537fieldliteralchariotchariotliteralprocessingprocessingliteraleatingeatingliteralquarrelingquarrelingliteralbesiegingbesiegingliteralfieldfieldreferenceterm-107516adlib-term-107516146a0bfc-a677-3f01-8f8a-18d01ec5f2f2shieldshieldbronze, cast and chasedreferenceterm-121155adlib-term-121155b898c0dc-7140-33c8-981b-6801b109c452castingThe Shield of Achillesobject
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