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Lot Essay
The 'L' at the end of the inscription on the reverse of this dish is a signature for an anonymous painter who has come to be known by the longer version of his signature, 'Lu Ur'. It has been suggested by John Mallet that the painter also used a hook mark in the year 1535, as four pieces dated 1535, which bear that mark, appear to be by the 'Lu Ur' painter.1 The 'Lu Ur' painter was possibly 'Luca of Urbino' or 'Luca Urbini', and was a follower or pupil of Xanto. The use of a number of prints as source material for decoration, the lengthy inscription detailing the subject, source of the story, date and the place it was made as well as a signature, are all traits of Xanto's work and the 'Lu Ur' painter was clearly very influenced by him.
So far three prints have been identified as sources for the decoration of this dish, two of which were identified by Wilson in his 1996 catalogue, but further prints may also have been used. The figure of the soldier with a spear is taken (in reverse) from the figure on the left of Marco Dente da Ravenna's 'Battle Scene', and the figure of an advancing soldier on the far left of the dish appears to have been taken from a figure on the left of 'Battle with a Cutlass', an engraving attributed to Marco Dente da Ravenna. The figure of the guard in the foreground is the same (in reverse) as a figure in an engraving 'The Horatii and the Curiatii'. A version of this print (dated 1541)2 is published here, and it is possible that this was based on an earlier, now lost, print. If this is not the case then presumably the 'Lu Ur' painter must have had access to the design by some other means, as the same figure appears in a Giulio Romano fresco medallion on the ceiling of the Sala dei Venti in the Duke of Mantua's Palazzo del Te in Mantua.3
The subject is an episode from ancient Persian History and is taken from Justin's Epitome of Trogus Pompeius. According to the story Gobryas held Oropastes and called for his co-conspirators to spear the king, even though he risked being killed in the process.
1. A dish in the Manchester City Art Gallery (illustrated by Ballardini, ibid., 1938, Vol. II, no. 208, 217 and 368R and by Wilson, ibid., p. 228, fig. a); a plate in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (illustrated by Ballardini, ibid, Vol. II, no. 206, 216 and 366R and by Wilson, ibid., p. 230, fig. c); a plate from the Sprovieri Collection (illustrated by Wilson, ibid., p. 229, no. 96) and a plate formerly in the Cucci Collection (illustrated by Wilson, ibid., p. 230, fig. b).
2. Stefania Massari suggested that the engraving may have been executed by Marco Dente da Ravenna. Marco Dente da Ravenna was known to collaborate with the publisher Antonio Salamanca who published this engraving in Rome in 1541. See Stefania Massari (ed.), Giulio Romano pinxit et delineavit: Opere grafiche autografe di collaborazione e bottega, Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica, Exhibition Catalogue, Rome, Palazzo della Farnesina, 1993, p. 47-48, fig. 41.
3. The fresco was designed by Giulio Romano and it is thought to have been executed by Rinaldo Mantova by 1528. The fresco relates iconographically to the zodiac sign of Taurus, but the 1541 engraving used the composition for a different subject, the battle of the Horatii and the Curiatii, as described by Livy in Book I of his History of Rome.
So far three prints have been identified as sources for the decoration of this dish, two of which were identified by Wilson in his 1996 catalogue, but further prints may also have been used. The figure of the soldier with a spear is taken (in reverse) from the figure on the left of Marco Dente da Ravenna's 'Battle Scene', and the figure of an advancing soldier on the far left of the dish appears to have been taken from a figure on the left of 'Battle with a Cutlass', an engraving attributed to Marco Dente da Ravenna. The figure of the guard in the foreground is the same (in reverse) as a figure in an engraving 'The Horatii and the Curiatii'. A version of this print (dated 1541)
The subject is an episode from ancient Persian History and is taken from Justin's Epitome of Trogus Pompeius. According to the story Gobryas held Oropastes and called for his co-conspirators to spear the king, even though he risked being killed in the process.
1. A dish in the Manchester City Art Gallery (illustrated by Ballardini, ibid., 1938, Vol. II, no. 208, 217 and 368R and by Wilson, ibid., p. 228, fig. a); a plate in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (illustrated by Ballardini, ibid, Vol. II, no. 206, 216 and 366R and by Wilson, ibid., p. 230, fig. c); a plate from the Sprovieri Collection (illustrated by Wilson, ibid., p. 229, no. 96) and a plate formerly in the Cucci Collection (illustrated by Wilson, ibid., p. 230, fig. b).
2. Stefania Massari suggested that the engraving may have been executed by Marco Dente da Ravenna. Marco Dente da Ravenna was known to collaborate with the publisher Antonio Salamanca who published this engraving in Rome in 1541. See Stefania Massari (ed.), Giulio Romano pinxit et delineavit: Opere grafiche autografe di collaborazione e bottega, Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica, Exhibition Catalogue, Rome, Palazzo della Farnesina, 1993, p. 47-48, fig. 41.
3. The fresco was designed by Giulio Romano and it is thought to have been executed by Rinaldo Mantova by 1528. The fresco relates iconographically to the zodiac sign of Taurus, but the 1541 engraving used the composition for a different subject, the battle of the Horatii and the Curiatii, as described by Livy in Book I of his History of Rome.