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Lot Essay
This dish, which bears Nicola da Urbino's handwriting on the reverse, uses a refined print as its source rather than the crude woodcuts from Ovidio Metamorphoseos Vulgare printed in Venice in 1497 (and in subsequent editions) which Nicola had favoured earlier. The chasm between the woodcuts and his finished pieces derived from these prints (such as the exquisite d'Este Gonzaga service)1 is a creative leap which suggests the simplicity of the woodcuts acted primarily as a trigger for Nicola's imagination.
By 1530 Nicola da Urbino was head of a workshop and management presumably took up much of his time. The relationship between prints and his work also appears to have changed, with an increase in the use of more elaborate prints as inspiration.2 The present lot is derived from the engraving of 'Hercules and Cacus' by Gian Giacomo Caraglio (see p. 67), which was the same source used by Xanto for his dish depicting the same subject in the Pucci Service.3 Comparison between Xanto's use of the print and Nicola's use of the print show a different method of working. In spite of the addition of a pelt to Hercules, Xanto followed the print very closely. Although Nicola followed the overall structure of the print, he made numerous revisions. Ballardini illustrates another piece with the same subject, which also follows the print closely, with the exception of the addition of another figure.4
The story depicted relates to Hercules driving Geryon's cattle home. He had stopped to rest for the night, and during the night the giant Cacus (Vulcan's son), who lived in a nearby cave, stole some of the cattle, dragging them backwards into his cave by their tails in an attempt to disguise their trails from Hercules. But the whereabouts of the cattle was given away by their lowing, and Hercules located the cattle and slew Cacus.
1. A tondino from the service was sold by Christie's Paris on 17th December 2009, lot 50. Also see D. Thornton and T. Wilson, Italian Renaissance Ceramics, A Catalogue of the British Museum Collection, London, 2009, pp. 230-236, nos. 143-144 for two pieces from the service and a list of known pieces.
2. See Mallet, ibid., pp. 132-133 for a plate of circa 1533 attributed to Nicola da Urbino which utilises Caraglio's 'The Muses and the Pierides', a print used by Xanto in his Pucci Service plate in this sale, lot 22.
3. Formerly in the Pringsheim Collection, sale Sotheby's, London, 8th June 1939, lot 189, see Jörg Rasmussen, Italian Majolica in the Robert Lehman Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1989, p. 254, no. 80.15.
4. Gaetano Ballardini, Corpus della Maiolica Italiana, Rome, 1933, Vol. II, p. 24, no. 107, and fig. 101.
By 1530 Nicola da Urbino was head of a workshop and management presumably took up much of his time. The relationship between prints and his work also appears to have changed, with an increase in the use of more elaborate prints as inspiration.
The story depicted relates to Hercules driving Geryon's cattle home. He had stopped to rest for the night, and during the night the giant Cacus (Vulcan's son), who lived in a nearby cave, stole some of the cattle, dragging them backwards into his cave by their tails in an attempt to disguise their trails from Hercules. But the whereabouts of the cattle was given away by their lowing, and Hercules located the cattle and slew Cacus.
1. A tondino from the service was sold by Christie's Paris on 17th December 2009, lot 50. Also see D. Thornton and T. Wilson, Italian Renaissance Ceramics, A Catalogue of the British Museum Collection, London, 2009, pp. 230-236, nos. 143-144 for two pieces from the service and a list of known pieces.
2. See Mallet, ibid., pp. 132-133 for a plate of circa 1533 attributed to Nicola da Urbino which utilises Caraglio's 'The Muses and the Pierides', a print used by Xanto in his Pucci Service plate in this sale, lot 22.
3. Formerly in the Pringsheim Collection, sale Sotheby's, London, 8th June 1939, lot 189, see Jörg Rasmussen, Italian Majolica in the Robert Lehman Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1989, p. 254, no. 80.15.
4. Gaetano Ballardini, Corpus della Maiolica Italiana, Rome, 1933, Vol. II, p. 24, no. 107, and fig. 101.