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The Deaths of Pyramus and Thisbe
Painter:
Avelli, Francesco Xanto
(Probably)
Printmaker:
Caraglio, Giovanni Giacomo
(After)
Printmaker:
Dente, Marco (Marco da Ravenna)
(After)
Printmaker:
Veneziano, Agostino
(After)
Maiolica broad-rimmed bowl, painted in polychrome with The Deaths of Pyramus and Thisbe.
Bowl. Buff earthenware, tin-glazed overall; the reverse pale beige. Painted in blue, green, yellow, orange, beige, brown, manganese-purple, black, and white.
Shape 57. Circular with broad, slightly sloping rim and small, deep well; the underside of the rim moulded with four bands of reeding.
The Deaths of Pyramus and Thisbe. Pyramus, naked and pierced by his own sword, lies dead in the foreground. On the right, Thisbe is about to throw herself on a sword, watched by Cupid, standing bow in hand on the far left. In the middle, a lioness looks out from behind a fountain and rocks. In the landscape background there is a town and distant hills. The edge is yellow. The back is inscribed in the middle in blue-black: `Vedi Piramo & Tisbe/i sieme allombra./historia y' (Behold Pyramus and Thisbe together in the shadow. history y).
History note: Henry Harris before 1930; Sotheby's, 20 June 1950, Catalogue of fine Italian maiolica from the well-known collection of the late Henry Harris, Esq. . . ., lot 106; Alfred Spero; Marmaduke Langdale Horn.
M.L. Horn Bequest
Diameter: 26 cm
Height: 4.3 cm
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1953-10-22) by Horn, Marmaduke Langdale
16th Century
Renaissance
Circa
1528
CE
-
1531
CE
Although unsigned, this dish can be attributed to Xanto on the basis of style, the literary and printed sources used, and handwriting.
The scene was constructed from four engraved sources. Thisbe was adapted from a woman on the extreme right of the Contest between the Muses and the Pierides by G. G. Caraglio after Rosso Fiorentino. The figure was reversed and a raised arm added. Pyramus was probably derived from the fallen warrior in the foreground of the Battle of the Romans and Carthaginians by Marco Dente da Ravenna after Raphael or Giulio Romano. Cupid is a reversed version of one to the right of centre in the Dance of Cupids, by Marcantonio Raimondi after Raphael. The lion's head might have been taken from Hercules and the Nemean Lion by Agostino Veneziano after Raphael.
Decoration composed of high-temperature colours ( blue, green, yellow, orange, beige, brown, manganese-purple, black, and white)
Moulding
: Buff earthenware, tin-glazed overall; the reverse pale beige. Painted in blue, green, yellow, orange, beige, brown, manganese-purple, black, and white.
Tin-glazing
Inscription present: rectangular with cut corners and red printed border
Inscription present: strip
Inscription present: circular
Accession number: C.15-1953
Primary reference Number: 72140
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "The Deaths of Pyramus and Thisbe" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/72140 Accessed: 2024-11-21 17:47:01
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/72140
|title=The Deaths of Pyramus and Thisbe
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-21 17:47:01|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-72140
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa9/C_15_1953_281_29.jpg"
alt="The Deaths of Pyramus and Thisbe"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">The Deaths of Pyramus and Thisbe</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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