Francesco Xanto Avelli

Xanto, fra
Rovigo da Urbino
da Rovigo, Fracesco Xanto Avelli

Italian (Rovigo), active in Urbino, c. 1486/1487 - after 1542

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Italian ceramicist

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Francesco Xanto Avelli, Italian 16th Century, Shallow bowl on low foot with the death of Laocoön and his two sons, 1539, tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica), Widener Collection, 1942.9.338

Shallow bowl on low foot with the death of Laocoön and his two sons

Francesco Xanto Avelli, Italian 16th Century · 1539 · tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica) ·  Accession ID  1942.9.338

This circular plate is painted with an almost cartoon-like scene showing four people with pale skin around a stream, near the exterior of a tower. At the top of the plate, a nude woman is shown from the thighs up as she falls horizontally from an open window at the top of the tower. Her back, buttocks, and a single breast are exposed to us while a deep red and blue fabric wraps over her far shoulder and around her thighs. Her hands clasp as she reaches her arms forward, and her copper-red hair flies behind her. Her mouth is wide open. Directly below her, at the bottom center of the plate, a man partially wrapped in ruby-red drapery lies on his back in the stream. One arm is flung over his head and the other hangs across his body. He has black hair, and his eyes are closed. On the right side of the plate, a second man stands on the bank of the stream with his body facing us, as he turns his face to our left in profile. He has curly, brown hair, and the eyebrow we can see is furrowed. He wears a knee-length red tunic, and he raises both arms high overhead. Finally, the fourth winged, child-like person stands on the opposite bank, to our left. He is nude except for a quiver of arrows slung across his chest. His babyish body is chubby with small wings between his shoulder blades. He faces the center of the scene and looks up at the falling woman while raising a long torch toward her. The tower is made of parchment-white stones outlined with mustard yellow and black. A shield or coat of arms hangs or hovers just above the center of the plate. It has a rounded top and pointed bottom, and has six gold, tree-like forms against a navy-blue background, all within a scrolling, red frame. The stream winds into the distance between buildings along the banks. Cobalt-blue and sepia-brown mountains line the horizon, and a light brown sun with linear rays sets behind them. The plate is edged with a thin band of golden brown, and there are several chips around the rim. The plate is shown in front of a light gray background and it casts a light shadow to our right.
Francesco Xanto Avelli, Vincenzo Andreoli, Italian 16th Century, Plate with Hero leaping to her death from her tower and the drowned Leander; in the center, a shield of arms, 1538, tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica), Widener Collection, 1942.9.337

Plate with Hero leaping to her death from her tower and the drowned Leander; in the center, a shield of arms

Francesco Xanto Avelli, Vincenzo Andreoli, Italian 16th Century · 1538 · tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica) ·  Accession ID  1942.9.337

Francesco Xanto Avelli, Plate with Pyramus and Thisbe, 1536, tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica), Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2015.19.4013

Plate with Pyramus and Thisbe

Francesco Xanto Avelli · 1536 · tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica) ·  Accession ID  2015.19.4013

Francesco Xanto Avelli, Charger with the Battle of Roncevaux, 1533, tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica), Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2014.136.323

Charger with the Battle of Roncevaux

Francesco Xanto Avelli · 1533 · tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica) ·  Accession ID  2014.136.323

Francesco Xanto Avelli, Plate with Amphiaraus and Eriphyle (from the Hercules Service), 1532, tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica), Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2015.19.4010

Plate with Amphiaraus and Eriphyle (from the Hercules Service)

Francesco Xanto Avelli · 1532 · tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica) ·  Accession ID  2015.19.4010

Francesco Xanto Avelli, Plate with the sinking of the fleet of Seleucus (from the Pucci Service), 1532, tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica), Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2015.19.4014

Plate with the sinking of the fleet of Seleucus (from the Pucci Service)

Francesco Xanto Avelli · 1532 · tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica) ·  Accession ID  2015.19.4014

Francesco Xanto Avelli, Broad-rimmed bowl with Neptune raping Theophane; arms of Pucci with an "ombrellino", 1532, tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica), Widener Collection, 1942.9.345

Broad-rimmed bowl with Neptune raping Theophane; arms of Pucci with an "ombrellino"

Francesco Xanto Avelli · 1532 · tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica) ·  Accession ID  1942.9.345

Francesco Xanto Avelli, Plate with an allegorical scene of a woman and a putto, c. 1527/1530, tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica), Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2015.19.3995

Plate with an allegorical scene of a woman and a putto

Francesco Xanto Avelli · c. 1527/1530 · tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica) ·  Accession ID  2015.19.3995

Francesco Xanto Avelli, Charger with the Massacre of the Innocents, c. 1527/1530, tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica), Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2014.136.322

Charger with the Massacre of the Innocents

Francesco Xanto Avelli · c. 1527/1530 · tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica) ·  Accession ID  2014.136.322

Francesco Xanto Avelli, Shallow bowl on low foot with the Conversion of Saul, c. 1525, tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica), Widener Collection, 1942.9.349

Shallow bowl on low foot with the Conversion of Saul

Francesco Xanto Avelli · c. 1525 · tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica) ·  Accession ID  1942.9.349

Bibliography

1873

  • Fortnum 1873, 344-350.

1914

  • Vitaletti, Guido. Francesco Xanto Avelli. Urbino, 1914.

1933

  • Rackham, Bernard, and Gaetano Ballardini. "Il pittore di maiolica '.F.R.'." Bollettino d'Arte 26 (1933): 393-407.

1960

  • Liverani, Giuseppe. "Avelli." In Dizionario biografico degli italiani. Edited by Alberto Maria Ghisalberti. 79+ vols. Rome, 196)+: 4(1962):650-652.

1971

  • Mallet, J.V.G. "Maiolica at Polesden Lacey, III; a New Look at the Xanto Problem." Apollo 93 (1971): 170-183.

1976

  • Mallet, J.V.G. "A Maiolica Plate Signed 'F.R.'." Art Bulletin of Victoria (1976): 5-18.

1980

  • Petruzellis-Scherer, Jacqueline. "Le opere di Francesca Xanto Avelli al Castello Sforzesco." Rassegna di studi e di notizie (Milan) 8 (1980): 321-371.

  • Francesco Xanto Avelli da Rovigo. Atti del convegno internazionale di studi 1980. Rovigo, 1980.

1984

  • Mallet, J. V. G. "La biografia di Francesco Xanto Avelli alla luce dei suoi sonnetti." Faenza 70 (1984): 398-402.

1987

  • Cioci, Francesco. Xanto e il duca di Urbino. Milan, 1987.

  • Wilson, Timothy. Ceramic Art of the Italian Renaissance. Austin, 1987: 52-59.

1988

  • Holcroft, Alison. "Francesco Xanto Avelli and Petrarch." Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 51 (1988): 225-234.

1993

  • Distelberger, Rudolf, Alison Luchs, Philippe Verdier, and Timonthy H. Wilson. Western Decorative Arts, Part I: Medieval, Renaissance, and Historicizing Styles including Metalwork, Enamels, and Ceramics. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1993: 199-201.