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Attributed to Francesco Xanto Avelli, Urbino, possibly with assistants; lustered in the workshop of Maestro Giorgio Andreoli of Gubbio, or possibly in Urbino

Shallow bowl on low foot with the death of Laocoön and his two sons, 1539

West Building, Ground Floor - Gallery 14

Medium

tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)

Dimensions

overall (diameter): 27 cm (10 5/8 in.)

Credit Line

Widener Collection

Accession Number

1942.9.338

Artists / Makers

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

Italian 16th Century (ceramist)

Maestro Giorgio Andreoli of Gubbio (related artist) Italian, c. 1465/1470 - c. 1553

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Inscription

center reverse: 1539 / da duo gra serpe / Laocaonte ucciso-

Marks and Labels

Kann collection labels 16, 185; unnumbered extract in French from 19th century sale catalog, attributing the painting to "Xantho" (now in object folder, NGA Curatorial Records)

Provenance

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.

Associated Names

Duveen Brothers, Inc.
Kann, Maurice
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 Gllery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1982-1983, no. 54.

2018: Sharing Images: Renaissance Prints into Maiolica and Bronze, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2018, no. 20

Technical Summary

Earthenware, covered front and back with a somewhat pockmarked off-white tin glaze. The painting is in blue, green, gray, yellow, orange, brown, black, and white, with reddish and orange-gold luster. There are two neat kiln-support marks on the front near the edge. The edge is severely chipped and the luster somewhat worn. There are minor patches of overpaint.

Bibliography

1935: Inventory of the Objects d'Art at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, The Estate of the Late P.A.B. Widener. Philadelphia, 1935: 62.

1942: Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 13, as Urbino (Francesco Xanto Avelli?), with Gubbio luster.

1983: Wilson, Carolyn C. Renaissance Small Bronze Sculpture and Associated Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1983: 121, no. 4.

1988: Fiocco/Gherardi 1988-1989, 2:580.

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: 215-217, color repro. 216.