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The Contest between Apollo and Pan: C.133-1933

An image of Bowl with broad rim

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Object information

Current Location: Gallery 7 (Courtauld)

Titles

The Contest between Apollo and Pan

Maker(s)

Painter: Milan Marsyas Painter (Attributed to)

Entities

Categories

Description

Maiolica bowl with broad rim, painted in polychrome with The Contest between Apollo and Pan.

Pale buff earthenware, tin-glazed overall; the glaze on the reverse pale beige, unevenly distributed and tinged with green in several places. There are eight minor flaws in the upper surface. Painted in blue, green, yellow, orange, brown, black, and white. Shape 57. Circular with a wide, almost flat rim and small, deep well; the underside of the rim moulded with three bands of reeding.
The Contest between Apollo and Pan. On the left, Pan sits on a tree stump holding his pipes. Apollo stands on the right, looking away from his adversary and holding a bow and a lira da braccio. There is a small tree behind Pan and a taller one in the middle. Suspended between their branches, there is a shield of Tuscan form charged with the arms azure, three crescents addorsed argent (one above and two below). In the foreground there is a path, and in the background, a hill town in a landscape. The edge is yellow. On the back, two yellow bands encircle the edge.

Legal notes

Given by Alfred A. De Pass

Measurements and weight

Diameter: 19.7 cm
Height: 3 cm

Place(s) associated

  • Urbino ⪼ The Marches ⪼ Italy

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1933-06-15) by de Pass, Alfred A.

Dating

16th Century, second quarter#
Renaissance
Production date: circa AD 1530

Note

The style of the unidentified painter of this dish has affinities with that of Xanto Avelli da Rovigo but is closer to Nicola da Urbino, to whom some of his work was formerly attributed. J.V.G. Mallet named him the 'Milan Marsyas Painter' after a plate in the Castello Sforzeso, Milan, which illustrates the prominent characteristics of his hand, and bears a subject inscription on the reverse. He was working between about 1525 and 1535, the lustred date on a fragment in the Victoria and Albert Museum, attributed to him by Mallet.

School or Style

Renaissance

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

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

Materials used in production

Tin-glaze
Earthenware

Techniques used in production

Moulding : Pale buff earthenware, tin-glazed overall; the glaze on the reverse pale beige, unevenly distributed and tinged with green in several places. Painted in blue, green, yellow, orange, brown, black, and white.
Painting
Tin-glazing

Inscription or legends present

Inscription present: oval

  • Text: FITZWILLIAM MUSEUM/GIVEN BY/ALFRED A DE PASS/1933
  • Method of creation: Printed in black
  • Type: Label

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.133-1933
Primary reference Number: 79980
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Monday 3 July 2023 Last processed: Friday 8 December 2023

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 (2024) "The Contest between Apollo and Pan" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/79980 Accessed: 2024-03-29 14:53:36

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/79980 |title=The Contest between Apollo and Pan |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-03-29 14:53:36|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

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https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-79980

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        alt="The Contest between Apollo and Pan"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">The Contest between Apollo and Pan</figcaption>
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