Maiolica dish with Hercules and Omphale with Cupid

An image of Dish/Maiolica. Hercules and Omphale with Cupid. Attribution uncertain, probably made in Urbino or Venice. Shape approximately 59, but with wider, shallower well. Hercules sits in front of a rock on the left. He has a distaff under his left arm and holds a spindle in his right hand. Cupid, holding a bow, stands between him and Omphale who approaches from the right. In the foreground there is grass and a stony path, to the right, a tree, and in the background, hills and buildings. A narrow blue band and a wider yellow band encircle the rim. On the back, `ercole e dianira' is inscribed in the middle in blue, and there are yellow bands round the shoulder, near the rim, and on the edge. Earthenware, moulded, tin-glazed overall and painted in polychrome, height 4.2 cm, diameter 25.5 cm, circa 1570-1590. Renaissance.

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Dish/Maiolica. Hercules and Omphale with Cupid. Attribution uncertain, probably made in Urbino or Venice. Shape approximately 59, but with wider, shallower well. Hercules sits in front of a rock on the left. He has a distaff under his left arm and holds a spindle in his right hand. Cupid, holding a bow, stands between him and Omphale who approaches from the right. In the foreground there is grass and a stony path, to the right, a tree, and in the background, hills and buildings. A narrow blue band and a wider yellow band encircle the rim. On the back, `ercole e dianira' is inscribed in the middle in blue, and there are yellow bands round the shoulder, near the rim, and on the edge. Earthenware, moulded, tin-glazed overall and painted in polychrome, height 4.2 cm, diameter 25.5 cm, circa 1570-1590. Renaissance.

Image data

Accession Number: C.213-1991
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Aperture: f/22.0
Focal length: 120
Camera: Hasselblad H3DII-31
Photographer name: Andrew Norman
Image height: 1024 pixels
Image width: 939 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.4 (Windows)
Filesize: 920.07kB
Exposure time: 1/125
ISO Speed: 100
Fnumber: 22/1
Captured: 2015:07:02 15:20:21

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            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025)
            "Maiolica dish with Hercules and Omphale with Cupid"
            Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/image/media-3208227364 Accessed: 2025-12-05 16:43:56

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            University of Cambridge}}

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