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Lot Essay
The scene depicts the gathering of the gods for the marriage of Peleus and Thetis (the parents of the Greek military hero Achilles). The style of decoration bears a very close resemblance to the work of Nicola da Urbino, the extremely influential Urbino painter and workshop owner who is widely regarded as one of the greatest istoriato painters of 16th century Italy. At the time this piece was painted, probably in the early 1530s, his style was evolving and influenced by the other great personality of Urbino istoriato painting of the time, Francesco Xanto Avelli.
In his article about the influence of Xanto’s ideas on Nicola da Urbino, the maiolica scholar Timothy Wilson discusses a piece decorated with Astolfo and the Harpies which he convincingly argues owes a debt to Xanto’s compositions (Cf. Timothy Wilson, ‘A personality to be reckoned with: some aspects of the impact of Xanto on the work of Nicola da Urbino’, Faenza, XCIII, IV-VI, 2007, pp. 253-258, which he dates to circa 1532-33; this piece was formerly in the collection of Professor René Küss and sold by Christie’s, Paris, on 13 December 2006, lot 100). Wilson notes that ‘the idea of a ring of rounded clouds populated by figures was one that Xanto had used earlier’ (Wilson, ibid., p. 255, and p. 262, note 35, citing a dated 1531 piece in the Wernher Collection and a φ marked piece in the Castello Sforzesco, Milan, which can be dated to the 1528-30 period). He also notes that an istoriato maiolica plaque in the Musei Civici, Pavia, painted by Nicola da Urbino with The Last Supper (with the background darkened in a way very similar to the present lot), is further evidence of the influence of Xanto on Nicola as the drapery of the figures is colored and shaded in a dramatic way, which is typical of Xanto’s work-- in particular his work of the 1520s-- but is not typical of Nicola’s work (Wilson, ibid., p. 261, Fig. 10). The drapery of the figures on the present lot is also dramatically shaded, particularly Hebe in the foreground on the right, and the seated god to her left. Although the Pavia plaque almost certainly pre-dates 1530, the present lot is very slightly later.
Maiolica scholars do not agree on the authorship of the present dish. Timothy Wilson feels that it is ‘very probably painted by Nicola himself’, whereas the maiolica scholar John Mallet feels that it is by one of his gifted followers, the ‘Decollation Painter’, or the ‘Aeneas in Italy Painter’. As such, the piece has been omitted from the corpus of Nicola da Urbino’s work published by J.V.G. Mallet, ‘Nicola da Urbino and Francesco Xanto Avelli’ in Faenza, XCIII, IV-VI, 2007, pp. 216-236. Since its publication in 2007, further pieces have emerged. For the ‘Decollation Painter’ or ‘Aeneas in Italy Painter’, see J.V.G. Mallet, ‘Majoliques italiennes de la Renaissance dans la Collection Hamburger’ in Anne-Claire Schuhmacher (ed.), La Donation van Beusekom-Hamburger, Faïences et Porcelaines des XVIe-XVIIIe Siècles, Musée Ariana, Geneva, 2010, pp. 12-27. Also see Timothy Wilson, The Golden Age of Italian Maiolica-Painting, Turin, 2018, nos. 87, 174 and 175, and Wilson, Italian Maiolica and Europe, Oxford, 2017, no. 111, where he states the reasoning for calling this painter the ‘Decollation Painter’, rather than the ‘Aeneas in Italy Painter’.
If the present piece is by Nicola da Urbino, it appears to pre-date his armorial pieces painted with the impaled arms of Paleologo and Gonzaga which are thought to date from circa 1533 (Timothy Wilson, ibid., 2018, pp. 192-195; the set cannot pre-date 1533 as the decoration of one of the pieces is derived from a print which was first published in 1533). By this time Nicola’s draftsmanship displayed a marked decline from his earlier work, causing debate among scholars as to the authorship of some of the works from this later period. Timothy Wilson has speculated that this may have been caused by ill-health, whereas Mallet (who refutes this) has speculated that Nicola’s work suffered due to the pressures of running a workshop (Cf. Wilson, loc. cit., 2007, p. 253, and Mallet, loc. cit., 2007, p. 211).
In his article about the influence of Xanto’s ideas on Nicola da Urbino, the maiolica scholar Timothy Wilson discusses a piece decorated with Astolfo and the Harpies which he convincingly argues owes a debt to Xanto’s compositions (Cf. Timothy Wilson, ‘A personality to be reckoned with: some aspects of the impact of Xanto on the work of Nicola da Urbino’, Faenza, XCIII, IV-VI, 2007, pp. 253-258, which he dates to circa 1532-33; this piece was formerly in the collection of Professor René Küss and sold by Christie’s, Paris, on 13 December 2006, lot 100). Wilson notes that ‘the idea of a ring of rounded clouds populated by figures was one that Xanto had used earlier’ (Wilson, ibid., p. 255, and p. 262, note 35, citing a dated 1531 piece in the Wernher Collection and a φ marked piece in the Castello Sforzesco, Milan, which can be dated to the 1528-30 period). He also notes that an istoriato maiolica plaque in the Musei Civici, Pavia, painted by Nicola da Urbino with The Last Supper (with the background darkened in a way very similar to the present lot), is further evidence of the influence of Xanto on Nicola as the drapery of the figures is colored and shaded in a dramatic way, which is typical of Xanto’s work-- in particular his work of the 1520s-- but is not typical of Nicola’s work (Wilson, ibid., p. 261, Fig. 10). The drapery of the figures on the present lot is also dramatically shaded, particularly Hebe in the foreground on the right, and the seated god to her left. Although the Pavia plaque almost certainly pre-dates 1530, the present lot is very slightly later.
Maiolica scholars do not agree on the authorship of the present dish. Timothy Wilson feels that it is ‘very probably painted by Nicola himself’, whereas the maiolica scholar John Mallet feels that it is by one of his gifted followers, the ‘Decollation Painter’, or the ‘Aeneas in Italy Painter’. As such, the piece has been omitted from the corpus of Nicola da Urbino’s work published by J.V.G. Mallet, ‘Nicola da Urbino and Francesco Xanto Avelli’ in Faenza, XCIII, IV-VI, 2007, pp. 216-236. Since its publication in 2007, further pieces have emerged. For the ‘Decollation Painter’ or ‘Aeneas in Italy Painter’, see J.V.G. Mallet, ‘Majoliques italiennes de la Renaissance dans la Collection Hamburger’ in Anne-Claire Schuhmacher (ed.), La Donation van Beusekom-Hamburger, Faïences et Porcelaines des XVIe-XVIIIe Siècles, Musée Ariana, Geneva, 2010, pp. 12-27. Also see Timothy Wilson, The Golden Age of Italian Maiolica-Painting, Turin, 2018, nos. 87, 174 and 175, and Wilson, Italian Maiolica and Europe, Oxford, 2017, no. 111, where he states the reasoning for calling this painter the ‘Decollation Painter’, rather than the ‘Aeneas in Italy Painter’.
If the present piece is by Nicola da Urbino, it appears to pre-date his armorial pieces painted with the impaled arms of Paleologo and Gonzaga which are thought to date from circa 1533 (Timothy Wilson, ibid., 2018, pp. 192-195; the set cannot pre-date 1533 as the decoration of one of the pieces is derived from a print which was first published in 1533). By this time Nicola’s draftsmanship displayed a marked decline from his earlier work, causing debate among scholars as to the authorship of some of the works from this later period. Timothy Wilson has speculated that this may have been caused by ill-health, whereas Mallet (who refutes this) has speculated that Nicola’s work suffered due to the pressures of running a workshop (Cf. Wilson, loc. cit., 2007, p. 253, and Mallet, loc. cit., 2007, p. 211).