AN ITALIAN MAIOLICA ISTORIATO DISH

DATED 1545, PROBABLY PESARO AND FROM THE WORKSHOP OF THE LANFRANCO FAMILY

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AN ITALIAN MAIOLICA ISTORIATO DISH
Dated 1545, probably Pesaro and from the workshop of the Lanfranco family
Painted in colours with Cupid in the sky parting clouds and watching Daphne fleeing from Apollo as her hands begin her transformation into a tree, in the water at the foreground Daphne's father, the river god Peneus, looks on

Lot Essay

According to Ovid, Apollo was punished by Cupid for ridiculing him. Cupid struck Apollo with an arrow to inflame Apollo's love for Daphne and struck Daphne with an arrow that would make Apollo's love repellent to her. Relentlessly pursued by Apollo, Daphne begged her father Peneus for help which he gave by changing her into a laurel tree.

The figure of Peneus is taken from an engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi entitled 'Witness to a Shipwreck'. Cf. Illustrated Bartsch, vol. 27, plate 401.

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