Footed dish with Diana and Actaeon
Fra Xanto Avelli da Rovigo
ca. 1525 · Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware) · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
The painter has decorated the shallow, rimless bowl of this footed dish with a scene from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The uninterrupted composition suggests that the bowl would have arrived at the table already laden (probably with fruit or sweetmeats), at first concealing the story. As diners consumed the treats, they would gradually reveal the sad tale of Actaeon, a hunter transformed into a stag as punishment for having glimpsed the goddess Diana at her bath.
- Artist
- Fra Xanto Avelli da Rovigo
- Date
- ca. 1525
- Medium
- Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware)
- Culture
- Italian, probably Urbino
- Department
- European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
- Credit line
- Samuel D. Lee Fund, 1941
