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Workshop of Guido Durantino of Urbino

Broad-rimmed bowl with the sacrifice of the Greeks at Aulis and the omen of the serpent devouring nine birds, interpreted by the priest Calchas; arms of Anne de Montmorency, 1535

West Building, Ground Floor - Gallery 10

Medium

tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)

Dimensions

overall (diameter): 25.6 cm (10 1/16 in.)

Credit Line

Widener Collection

Accession Number

1942.9.346

Artists / Makers

Italian 16th Century (ceramist)

Guido Durantino of Urbino (related artist) Italian, active 1520 - 1576

Image Use

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Inscription

center reverse: Sachrifitio d Gre / ci & de lo augurio / d Calcant / In botega d mo Guido / durantino In Urbino [The sacrifice of the Greeks and the prophecy of Calchas. In the workshop of Master Guido Durantino in Urbino]

Marks and Labels

Kann collection labels 22, 192; Seillière sale label: "65"; handwritten label: "30" (now in object folder, NGA Curatorial Records)

Provenance

Presumably made for Anne de Montmorency [d. 1567].[1] Perhaps in the collection of Pierre Crozat the Younger [1661-1740], Paris; by inheritance to his nephew, Louis-François Crozat, marquis du Châtel [1691-1750], Paris; (sale, Paris, 14 December 1750).[2] Probably De Monville; probably (his sale, Paris, 7-10 March 1837, no. 23).[3] Baron Achille Seillière, Château de Mello (Oise); (sale, Paris, 5-10 May 1890, no. 65).[4] Maurice Kann [1839-1906], Paris, by 1896;[5] purchased 1908 as part of the 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] The arms decorating the bowl are a slightly inaccurate rendering (the cross should not be couped) of those of Anne de Montmorency [1493-1567], Grand Maître and later Constable of France.

[2] Description sommaire des statues, figures, bustes, vases...provenans du Cabinet de feu M. Crozat (Paris, 14 December 1750 and following days), 43-45: "Faïences faites en Italie au commencement du seizième siècle par Guido Durantino de la ville d'Urbin...Quelques unes de celles qu'on voit ici ont été faites pour les seigneurs de l'illustre maison de Montmorency." There is no specific indication of the pieces that were from the Montmorency set, but nos. 209-212 were eighteen assiettes, which may have included most or all of the plates listed above.

[3] Catalogue d'objets d'art et de curiosité de la renaissance ...composant la collection de M. De Monville (Paris, 7-10 March 1837), no. 23, probably this piece (plat rond à sujet: le serpent d'aerain; avec écusson aux armes de Montmorency).

[4] Catalogue des objets d'art et de haute curiosité et de riche ameublement provenant de l'importante collection de feu M. le Baron Achille Seillière au Château de Mello (Paris, 5-10 May 1890), no. 65.

[5] Fortnum 1896, 202.

Associated Names

Crozat the Younger, Pierre
Crozat, marquis du Châtel, Louis-François
De Monville
Duveen Brothers, Inc.
Kann, Maurice
Montmorency, Anne de
Seillière, Achille, Baron
Widener, Joseph E.
Widener, Peter Arrell Brown

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. 47, repro.

1995: Le dressoir du Prince: Services d'apparat à la Renaissance, Musée national de la Renaissance, Ecouen, France, 1995-1996, no. 30, repro.

Technical Summary

Earthenware, covered front and back with a white tin glaze, with occasional pockmarks. The painting is in blue, yellow, orange, green, brown, gray, black, brick red, and white. On the underside, around the rim, is a ridged molding. On the rim on the front, near the edge, are three kiln-support marks. The rim has been completely overpainted.

Bibliography

1896: Fortnum 1896, 202.

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 (Maestro Guido of Castel Durante), about 1530-1540.

1983: Wilson, Carolyn C. Renaissance Small Bronze Sculpture and Associated Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1983: 122, no. 5, repro.

1987: Mallet 1987, 297, no. 15.

1987: Newman, Michael. "Le service de majolique d'Anne de Montmorency Connétable de France." L'estampille (Dijon) 204 (June 1987): 61, no. 13.

1988: Bojani, Gian Carlo. Ceramiche nelle Marche. Bergamo, 1988: 130, repro.

1989: Rasmussen Jörg. The Robert Lehman Collection, 10. Italian Majolica. New York and Princeton, 1989: 157, 259, fig. 91.9.

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: 219-222, color repro. 220.