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

1532

Francesco Xanto Avelli

Associated Names
Francesco Xanto Avelli

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

This is a painted bowl in vibrant colors. At the bottom, two small sheep stand on the tan-and-green ground. To the right, a small cherub with pale skin and blond hair stands, holding a bow with a quiver at their side. They are looking up and to the far right, where two people are intertwined below a group of tall trees. A person with the body of a human man and the head of a ram with curling horns has its arms extended, wrapping around a nude woman who has her mouth open. A pale orange cloth is draped from her back like a cape, and the male figure wears a blue draped toga. Both of these figures have light skin. On the other side of the bowl, to the left, a person draped in a blue robe stands looking at the two figures with a slightly downturned mouth. This person has light skin and orange hair, with what look like furry brown earmuffs over their head. They hold a staff and lean against a tall rocky mountain topped with grass and black trees. The background reveals a scenic view of rolling hills and a large stone structure akin to a castle or estate. The sky is rich with layered blue hues and has swirling cloud formations. In the center of the plate is a gold crest or shield, which features the profile of a person with dark skin looking to the left, a white headband tied around their head. A small gold canopy is over the crest.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)

  • Credit Line

    Widener Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall (diameter): 26.3 cm (10 3/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1942.9.345

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Count Ferdinando Pasolini dall'Onda, Faenza, in 1852.[1] Maurice Kann [1839-1906], Paris; purchased 1908 with the entire Kann collection by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris); purchased February 1910 by Peter A. B. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance from the Estate of Peter A. B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, 1942.
[1] Luigi Frati, Del Museo Pasolini in Faenza (Bologna, 1852), 15, no. 54. This piece has not been identified, however, in the catalogue of the sale at which much of the Pasolini collection was dispersed: Catalogue d'une belle collection de majoliques italiennes..., Paris, 13-15 December 1853.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1982

  • Sixteenth-Century Italian Maiolica; Selections from the Arthur M. Sackler Collection and the National Gallery of Art's Widener Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1982-1983, no. 50, repro.

1995

  • Le dressoir du Prince: Services d'apparat à la Renaissance, Musée national de la Renaissance, Ecouen, France, 1995-1996, no. 11, repro.

Bibliography

1852

  • Frati, Luigi. Del Museo Pasolini in Faenza. Bologna, 1852: 15, no. 54.

1935

  • Inventory of the Objects d'Art at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, The Estate of the Late P.A.B. Widener. Philadelphia, 1935: 65.

1942

  • Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 14, as Urbino (Francesco Xanto Avelli da Rovigo).

1983

  • Wilson, Carolyn C. Renaissance Small Bronze Sculpture and Associated Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1983: 121, no. 3.

1988

  • Triolo, Julia. "Francesco Xanto Avelli's Pucci service (1532-1533): a catalogue." Faenza 74 (1988): part 1: 41, no. 17; part 2: 254-255, pl. 43.

1989

  • Rasmussen Jörg. The Robert Lehman Collection, 10. Italian Majolica. New York and Princeton, 1989: 255-256, fig. 80.9.

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: 205-209, color repro. 207.

Inscriptions

center reverse: .1532. / Rape i castro Nettu / Basali nimpha. / Nel .VI. Li: de Ovidio Met: / fra: Xanto .A. / da Rovigo, i / Urbino. [Neptune in the form of a wether rapes the nymph Basalis. In book 6 of Ovid's Metamorphoses. Francesco Xanto Avelli of Rovigo in Urbino]

Markings

Kann collection labels 18, 187; "Arms of the FAMILY PUCCI" (now in object folder, NGA Curatorial Records)

Wikidata ID

Q62131102

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