Skip to main content

Christ washing the Disciples' Feet: C.174-1991

An image of Dish
View image details

Terms of use

The low-resolution images published on this Website are made available under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY-NC-ND). For more details: Fitzwilliam Terms of Use

This licence does not include any images of works that are still in copyright. Artistic copyright extends from the life of the artist to 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the artist died.

Download this image

For further information on use of images or to license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who can discuss terms and fees.

Alternative views

An image of Dish
An image of Dish
Current Location: In storage

Titles

Christ washing the Disciples' Feet

Maker(s)

Painter: 'Assumption Painter' (Attributed to)
Artist: Dürer, Albrecht (After)

Entities

Categories

Description

Maiolica dish on low foot, painted in polychrome with Christ washing the Disciples' Feet.

Dish on low foot. Earthenware, tin-glazed pale blue overall, except for the edge of the foot. Painted in blue, green, yellow, orange, manganese-purple, and brown.
Shape 78 with a ridge running round the top of the foot. Circular with shallow upturned sides, standing on a low foot.
Christ washing the Disciples' Feet. Christ washes St Peter's feet, while the other disciples stand or sit on either side. In the background are a door on the left, a window on the right, and an arched window at centre through which a landscape can be seen. The scene is enclosed by a wide border of coloured grotesques incorporating pairs of winged beasts, pairs of dolphins, anthemions and scrolls, reserved in a dark blue ground. The rim is yellow.
In the middle of the back is a yellow disk, painted in blue with a cross with a small circle in one quarter, surrounded by a narrow dark, and a wide paler, blue circle. A wide yellow band encircles the foot, and radiating from it, there is a row of small pointed petals transversely striped in blue, and a row of larger petals striped in orange. The spaces are striped in orange.

Notes

History note: Richard von Passavant-Gontard. Charles Damiron; Sotheby's, 16 June 1938, Catalogue of the very choice collection of old Italian majolica and Hispano-Moresque ware, the property of Monsieur Damiron, 8 rue Vaubecour, Lyons, lot 41; H.S. Reitlinger (d.1950); the Reitlinger Trust, Maidenhead, from which transferred in 1991.

Legal notes

H.S. Reitlinger Bequest

Measurements and weight

Diameter: 23.7 cm
Height: 5.1 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1950) by Reitlinger, Henry Scipio

Dating

16th Century, Early
Renaissance
Circa 1515 CE - 1525 CE

Note

The portrayal on the dish was derived from the woodcut of Christ washing the Disciples' Feet in Dürer's Little Passion, or the copy by Marcantonio Raimondi. The painter did not follow the print slavishly. He filled in the figures at the sides, added a door on the left, and substituted the central window and view for a hanging lamp.

School or Style

Renaissance

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

Decoration composed of high-temperature colours ( blue, green, yellow, orange, manganese-purple, and brown)

Materials used in production

except edge of foot Tin-glaze
Earthenware

Techniques used in production

Tin-glazing : Earthenware, tin-glazed pale blue overall, except for the edge of the foot. Painted in blue, green, yellow, orange, manganese-purple, and brown.

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.174-1991
Primary reference Number: 72547

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 30 April 2024

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Christ washing the Disciples' Feet" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/72547 Accessed: 2025-12-05 08:00:57

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/72547 |title=Christ washing the Disciples' Feet |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-05 08:00:57|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

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-72547

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

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_174_1991_281_29.jpg"
        alt="Christ washing the Disciples' Feet"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Christ washing the Disciples' Feet</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...

University of Cambridge Museums logo
Cambridge City Council logo
Arts Council England Logo
Research England logo