C1: Diana and Actaeon dish
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© The Holburne Museum of Art, Bath
| Museum number | C1 |
| Title | Diana and Actaeon dish |
| Object type | In category: Ceramics » Dish |
| Date | Between 1490 and 1500 |
| People |
Unknown - Maker |
| Place of origin | Europe » Southern Europe » Italy » Central Italy » Tuscany » Siena |
| Condition |
Good |
| Dimensions |
52.7 cm diameter whole |
| Materials & techniques |
In category:
Ceramic
»
Pottery
»
Earthenware
»
Tin-glazed earthenware
»
Maiolica
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| Description | Large display dish with a deep central well, broad slanting rim and projecting foot. Of tin-glazed earthenware with decoration in dark cobalt-blue, orange-yellow, lemon-yellow, bright green and opaque dark red enamels. The centre of the dish depicts the naked figures of Diana and three nymphs standing in an oblong bath with a fountain. To the left Actaeon, already partially transformed into a stag, is being attacked by three hounds. A huntsman stands to the right. Above runs a banderol inscribed PEL AQVA CHE MI GITASTI ADOSO CON TUO MANI FACTO SO CERVIO E MORTO MANO CANI. The dish rim is decorated with a frieze depicting Satyrs and Lapiths in combat with centaurs. The plain reverse is partially covered with a clear glaze. | ||||||
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Style |
Renaissance
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| Subject |
Mythological animal Mythology |
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| Notes | This magnificent dish has been described as one of the most remarkable pieces of early istoriato [narrative decoration on maiolica] in existence. It was probably made as a piatto di pompa, that is for show, rather than for practical use. The dish depicts two stories from classical mythology: in the centre, the death of Actaeon, and around the rim, the battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs. The central scene shows the tragic moment in the story, told in Ovid's Metamorphoses, when Diana, while bathing with her nymphs, is seen accidentally by Actaeon. In her wrath Diana sprinkled him with water. In so doing, she transformed him into a stag and in this guise he was hunted down and killed by his own hunting dogs. The upper and lower dogs are from a well-known print of wild animals by Finiguerra of Florence (d.1464).Over the scene is the inscription PEL AQVA CHE MI GITASTI ADOSO CON TUO MANI FACTO SO CERVIO E MORTO MANO CANI. [By the water which thou hast cast upon me with thy hands I am made a stag and killed by the hand of my hounds]. The border of the dish depicts the violent scenes that erupted at the wedding of the Lapith King Pirithous to Hippodamia when Eurytus, fiercest of the Centaurs, attempted to carry off the bride. The tale was vividly described in Ovid's Metamorphoses and decorated the Metopes of the frieze of the Parthenon in Athens. Although the shape of the dish is typical of those made in the Umbrian town of Deruta, the red enamel decoration suggests that it was probably made in Siena. A similar dish in the Musée de la Céramique, Rouen, France, is perhaps by the same painter and has been convincingly attributed to Siena. The dish is the finest piece of maiolica in Sir William Holburne's collection. He acquired it from the famous Montferrand Collection in 1859. In 1868 it was lent to the National Exhibition of Works of Art at Leeds.
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| Literature |
B. Rackham, Deruta maiolica: some new observations, Faenza, Anno XLVI, no. 6 (1960), pp.133-8 B. Rackham, Italian maiolica in provincial museums, Burlington Magazine, XXXIV (1919), pp. 125-6 Mario Luccarelli Contributo alla conoscenza della maiolica senese, Ceramica Antica, Anno X11, NO.10 (131), November 2002, pp.43-46, fig. X1 A. R. de Montferrand, Aperçu sur l'art céramique italien Collection de majolica, de A. de Montferrain Tiré d'un ouvrage intitulé: Descrirption de l'habitation d'un macon, St. Petersbourg, 1854, no. 124 |
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| Muse theme | The Art of Collecting |
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| Muse chapter |
The History of the Holburne Collection » Sir William Holburne and his Collection » Building the Collection
The History of the Holburne Collection » Sir William Holburne and his Collection » Arranging the Collection: Sir William at Home The History of the Holburne Collection » The Collection » Ceramics |
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| Gallery Label |
Maiolica Dish: the Death of Actaeon. Italian (Siena) c. 1490. This magnificent dish is decorated with a central scene illustrating the story of Diana and Actaeon, and the border with images of the battle between the Lapiths and Centaurs. It is acknowledged to be one of the most remarkable surviving examples of "istoriato" (narrative decoration on maiolica). Collection of Sir William Holburne.Museum number: C 1. (Unknown) |
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| Method of acquisition | Bequest | ||||||
| Provenance | August Richard de Montferrand (1786-1858); sold Christies 14 November 1859 (109); purchased by Thomas William Holburne (1793-1874); by whom bequeathed to Mary Anne Barbara Holburne (1802-1882), by whom bequeathed to the Museum | ||||||
| Exhibition history |
Title of exhibition: Holburne One hundred: an exhibition to commemorate the Centenary of the Museums opening and the Bicentenary of Sir William Holburne's birth Title of exhibition: The Beauties of Bath: the Holburne Museum Revealed Title of exhibition: Town House Treasures: Sir Thomas William Holburne of Bath |
