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Maiolica dish, painted in polychrome with, in the well, the arms of Gonzaga impaling Este, and, on the rim, Peleus and Thetis.

Earthenware, tin-glazed overall; the reverse pale beige and speckled. Painted in blue, green, yellow, orange, stone, brown, manganese-purple, black, and white. Shape 56 (Poole 1995). circular with broad, almost flat rim, and deep well; the underside of the rim moulded with three bands of reeding.In the well, within narrow blue and yellow concentric circles, two putti support a shield charged with the arms of Gonzaga impaling Este: argent, a cross patty gules cantoned by four eagles displayed sable (Gonzaga modern granted 1433), an escutcheon overall, quarterly, 1, 4, gules a lion rampant argent (Bohemia), 2, 3, barry of six or and sable (Gonzaga ancient) impaling Este, quarterly, 1, 4, azure three fleurs-de-lis or a bordure indented gules, 2, 3, azure an eagle displayed argent (gules shown orange throughout). Below on a scroll is the impresa `XXVII'. The sides are decorated in bianco sopra bianco with palmettes and scrolls, and a blue line encircles the shoulder. The rim is decorated with Peleus and Thetis. Peleus stands beneath a tree, gazing at Thetis, who sleeps nude on the ground in front of him. Further to the right she is transformed into a swan-like bird as he embraces her, and then into a dragon from which he turns away in horror. Higher up on the right, a goddess appears to Peleus who kneels before an altar. In the distance there is a mountainous landscape and sky. Suspended from the tree there is a shield of testa di cavallo form charged with the impresa of gold rods in a crucible surrounded by flames in a blue ground. The edge is yellow. On the back there is a narrow yellow band round the base and a wider band on the edge.

A member of the Rothschild family, Paris; Charles Damiron, Lyon; Sotheby's, 16 June 1938, Catalogue of the very choice collection of old Italian maiolica and Hispano-Moresque ware the property of Monsieur Damiron, 8 vue Vaubecour, Lyons, p. 63, lot 63.

Legal notes

Purchased with the Glaisher fund

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bought

Dates: 1938-06-16

Dating

The potter, Nicola di Gabriele Sbraghe, known as Nicola da Urbino, was a workshop owner in Urbino from at least 1520 until his death at the end of 1537 or in January 1538. He was also a brilliant maiolica painter, whose work has been identified by comparison with five pieces of istoriato maiolica monogrammed or signed by him. Nicola painted in an exquisitely delicate manner, and was unusually imaginative in his adaptation of printed sources and in the creation of architectural and landscape backgrounds. His output of the 1520s, which includes several armorial services, is regarded as the acme of maiolica decoration.

This exquisite dish formed part of a service which belonged to Isabella d'Este (1474-1539), widow of Francesco Gonzaga, fourth Marchese of Mantua (1466-1519). It was made between 1522 and 1525, and may have been the service given to Isabella probably in November 1524 by her daughter, Eleanora, Duchess of Urbino, who thought that she might like to use it in her villa at Porto near Mantua. Twenty-two dishes and one fragmentary dish are known, two decorated with biblical scenes and the rest with subjects from classical mythology or history. Each dish also bears the arms of Gonzaga impaling Este, and one or more of Isabella's imprese (a device or emblem) or her initials YS intertwined. On this dish the arms are surrounded by bianco sopra bianco decoration, and the rim is decorated with the story of Peleus and Thetis from Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book XI. Having found the sea goddess Thetis asleep on the shore, Peleus entreated her to make love, but she refused and escaped by transforming herself into different forms. After praying to the sea god Proteus for advice, Peleus successfully overcame the goddess's scruples and she conceived the ill-fated hero, Achilles. Nicola based the figures on a woodcut illustration in Giovanni dei Bonsignori's Ovidio methamorphoseos vulgare, Venice (Giovanni Rosso da Vercelli for Lucantonio Giunta), 1497 or a later edition. Two imprese are shown: `XXVII' sounding like vinti sète, (you are defeated), and gold bars in a crucible, which Isabella's husband adopted in 1495 to signify his integrity after successfully withstanding an accusation of treachery.

Maker(s)

Note

The potter, Nicola di Gabriele Sbraghe, known as Nicola da Urbino, was a workshop owner in Urbino from at least 1520 until his death at the end of 1537 or in January 1538. He was also a brilliant maiolica painter, whose work has been identified by comparison with five pieces of istoriato maiolica monogrammed or signed by him. Nicola painted in an exquisitely delicate manner, and was unusually imaginative in his adaptation of printed sources and in the creation of architectural and landscape backgrounds. His output of the 1520s, which includes several armorial services, is regarded as the acme of maiolica decoration.

This exquisite dish formed part of a service which belonged to Isabella d'Este (1474-1539), widow of Francesco Gonzaga, fourth Marchese of Mantua (1466-1519). It was made between 1522 and 1525, and may have been the service given to Isabella probably in November 1524 by her daughter, Eleanora, Duchess of Urbino, who thought that she might like to use it in her villa at Porto near Mantua. Twenty-two dishes and one fragmentary dish are known, two decorated with biblical scenes and the rest with subjects from classical mythology or history. Each dish also bears the arms of Gonzaga impaling Este, and one or more of Isabella's imprese (a device or emblem) or her initials YS intertwined. On this dish the arms are surrounded by bianco sopra bianco decoration, and the rim is decorated with the story of Peleus and Thetis from Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book XI. Having found the sea goddess Thetis asleep on the shore, Peleus entreated her to make love, but she refused and escaped by transforming herself into different forms. After praying to the sea god Proteus for advice, Peleus successfully overcame the goddess's scruples and she conceived the ill-fated hero, Achilles. Nicola based the figures on a woodcut illustration in Giovanni dei Bonsignori's Ovidio methamorphoseos vulgare, Venice (Giovanni Rosso da Vercelli for Lucantonio Giunta), 1497 or a later edition. Two imprese are shown: `XXVII' sounding like vinti sète, (you are defeated), and gold bars in a crucible, which Isabella's husband adopted in 1495 to signify his integrity after successfully withstanding an accusation of treachery.

Place(s) associated

Materials used in production

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A collections highlight record Maiolica dish

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The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

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Many medieval figures that were originally polychromed fell victim to the nineteenth-century antipathy to color in sculpture, and were stripped of their decoration to reveal the bare wood. The polychromy of wood sculpture, which was often not carried out in the sculptor's workshop but left to painters, relied on much the same techniques as panel painting. A glue sizing was applied to the wood to close the pores and prevent the absorption of paint media, and knots and joints were covered with textile or plant fibers. The figure then received several layers of a chalk-based ground, which served as a support for metal leaf and for opaque and translucent layers of pigment. The painter could achieve highly illusionistic effects, especially in the rendering of textiles and the treatment of flesh tones, which greatly enhanced the immediacy of the sculpture. In the Baptism of Christ ( 12.130.1) by a pupil of Veit Stoss, different types of gilding clarify the distinction between Christ's loincloth and his tunic, and between the angel's tunic and wings. On the Saint Barbara ( 55.166), the blush on the cheeks, the red lips, and pensive eyes all add dramatically to the sense of life.

The development of the graphic arts in Germany in the fifteenth century contributed to the acceptance of uncolored sculpture. The final appearance of a commissioned sculpture was specified in a contract, and the abandonment of polychromy cannot be attributed to artistic license alone; economic factors (the application of paint and gilding was sometimes more expensive than the carving itself) must also have informed a commissioner's decision. A master such as Tilman Riemenschneider transcended the limitation of monochromy, relying exclusively on his carving skills to achieve direct emotional appeal. The pensive face of his Seated Bishop ( 1970.137.1) at once commands respect and conveys the wisdom of old age. The drapery contains rich contrasts between florid and quiet passages, which create a complex play of light and dark. Their broad tonal range brings to mind the subtleties of Martin Schongauer's engravings, which Riemenschneider often took as a point of departure for his own compositions.

Chapuis, Julien. "Late Medieval German Sculpture: Polychromy and Monochromy." In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000-. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/grmn_3/hd_grmn_3.htm (October 2002)

Gothic and Renaissance Art in Nuremberg, 1300-1550. Exhibition catalogue.. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1986. See on MetPublications

Baxandall, Michael. The Limewood Sculptors of Renaissance Germany. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1980.

Chapuis, Julien. Tilman Riemenschneider: Master Sculptor of the Late Middle Ages. Exhibition catalogue.. Washington, D.C.: The National Gallery of Art, 1999.

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Late Medieval German Sculpture: Polychromy and Monochromy | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

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A master such as Tilman Riemenschneider transcended the limitation of monochromy, relying exclusively on his carving skills to achieve direct emotional appeal.