Nuremberg Offering Dish With Cicero, Renaissance, Germany From The Sixteenth Century

Nuremberg bowl - a multifunctional container made of brass. Decorated with repoussé friezes representing leaves and flowers. In the center, a profile of a repulsed man and an inscription in Latin. The figure pictured is Marcus Tullius Cicero, a Roman politician and philosopher. Cicero wrote in his works, often in the same passage, on both the gods and the Supreme God. In this regard, he shared the attitude of the Stoics, who believed that the traditional gods were manifestations of the presence of the One God in the world. Thus, Cicero's works could be read in the spirit of monotheism, and the Church Fathers often referred to him. Renaissance, Germany, Nuremberg, 16th century.Inscription: "MARCUS TVLIVS CIC" or Marcus Tullius Cicero and "ERO CONS". Diam. 24.3 cm, height 3.5 cm. The state of conservation is visible in the photos. Similar bowl: https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-5135319 Nuremberg Bowls - decorated metal containers, the main center of their production was located in Nuremberg. In 1493 the bowl breakers were given guild status, only the inhabitants of Nuremberg could do so. In 1618, the law was repealed and the machine collapsed. Bowls were widely used. In the houses of the poorest townspeople, they were only decoration, in the richest they were used to wash their hands, they were used by barbers during their work. In the 17th century, when they began to go out of fashion, they were eagerly delivered to churches, where they served as sacrificial or baptismal bowls for ashes or earth. Source: B. Bartkowiak, Brass bowls from Nuremberg in the collection of the Museum of the Archdiocese of Poznań, Ecclesia. Studies on the History of Wielkopolskie, Volume 7, 2012.