Madonna and Child with Saint Anthony the Hermit and Saint Jerome Moderno

Paxes, which were used when the greeting of peace was made during a Mass, became common from the thirteenth century onwards. The pax tablets were made of wood or ivory, sometimes being decorated with stone inlays or enamel paint. From the latter half of the fifteenth century, however, paxes made of bronze became common in Italy, where they were usually also gilded. The portrayals on a religious theme by Galeazzo Mondella, the most important medalist in Renaissance Italy, were often recast for paxes, both in Mondella’s lifetime and subsequently. During his life, the artist, a native of Verona, forged contacts with all the major humanist courts in northern Italy. His art was greatly influenced by the works of the painter Andrea Mantegna (1430/31–1506) and the sculptor Antico [Pier Jacopo Alari Bonacolsi] (c. 1460‒1528). The latter’s name seems to have inspired Galeazzo to take on the name Moderno, a reference to his relationship with the art of antiquity.