Bowl from a birth set with birth scene and Diana and Actaeon

Fra Xanto Avelli da Rovigo|the "Milan Marsyas" Painter

ca. 1530–32 · Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware) · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

This footed bowl originally formed the base of a birth set—a series of nesting bowls and dishes celebrating childbirth. Only when the set was disassembled would the domestic image on its interior be revealed. Here, a new mother appears in her bedchamber together with her infant and two companions. The exterior decoration depicts the unfortunate hunter Actaeon, who was turned into a stag by the goddess Diana.

Artist

Fra Xanto Avelli da Rovigo|the "Milan Marsyas" Painter

Date

ca. 1530–32

Medium

Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware)

Culture

Italian, Urbino

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Samuel D. Lee Fund, 1941