Minos and Scylla

Label

Roundels were frequently incorporated into different types of dinnerware, such as water pitchers and basins. The episodes depicted in low relief usually encouraged reflection on morality or virtues in the midst of celebration. For instance, the roundel with the scene of Lot and his daughters, in which the young women ply their father with wine to seduce him, would have invited the viewer to reflect on the consequences of alcohol and drunkenness. A similar example is the Combat Scene, which likely once formed part of a functional object such as a cup. The design features soldiers in Roman costumes circling the perimeter in a dynamic battle; the round shape and domed surface encourage the viewer to turn the object around and around, continuing the sense of vivid action. Such finely crafted images would have made the functional objects to which they belonged into prestigious possessions.

From the 2024 exhibition Living with Sculpture: Presence and Power in Europe, 1400–1750, curated by Elizabeth Rice Mattison, Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programming and Curator of European Art, and Ashley B. Offill, Curator of Collections

Course History

History 42.01, Women's Gender, and Sexuality Studies 22.01, Gender & European Society, Patrick Meehan, Spring 2024

History 96.39, Saints and Relics, Cecilia Gaposchkin, Spring 2024

Italian 1.01, Introductory Italian I, Noemi Perego, Spring 2024

Italian 11.01, Intensive Italian, Floriana Ciniglia, Spring 2024

Italian 2.01, Introductory Italian II, Floriana Ciniglia, Spring 2024

Italian 3.01, Introductory Italian III, Tania Convertini, Spring 2024

Italian 3.02, Introductory Italian III, Giorgio Alberti, Spring 2024

Exhibition History

Living with Sculpture: Presence and Power in Europe, 1400–1750, Citrin Family Gallery and Engles Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 23, 2024–March 22, 2025.

Publication History

Roger Arvid Anderson, The Roger Arvid Anderson Collection, Medals, Medallions, Plaquettes and Small Reliefs, Paintings, Sculpture, Works on Paper and Textiles, San Francisco: Roger Arvid Anderson (published privately), design by David L. Wilson, 2015, p. 191.

Provenance

Baron Frédéric Spitzer (1815-1890), Paris, France; Anderson Galleries, New York, January 9-12, 1929, lot 328; John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection, Worcester, Massachusetts; Thomas Del Mar, Ltd, Mary 20, 2013, lot 134; Morton & Eden Ltd., Nash House, London, December 15, 2014, lot 438; sold to Roger Arvid Anderson, San Francisco, California, 2014; lent to present collection, 2015; given to present collection, 2016.

Catalogue Raisonne

Bekker 1998, no. 288; Jamnitzer 1985, no. 557; Weber, No. 271; Braun 1918, no. 114

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