Ovid's Metamorphoses, recounting lively tales from Classical mythology, was much used by Renaissance artists. In 1497 a Venetian printer, Zoane Rosso, published a new edition of the text accompanied by allegorical interpretations and illustrative woodcuts that became essential sources for maiolica painters. The first Italian translation was printed in 1522, which greatly increased the popularity of Ovid and set the precedent for further translations into the vernacular. Ovid was extremely important to the humanistic tradition of the Renaissance, and was studied alongside Circero, Horace and Virgil.
This plate is painted with a scene from the story of Syrinx and Pan, told in Book I of Ovid's Metamorphoses. The beautiful and chaste nymph, Syrinx, is pursued by the lustful god, Pan. In an attempt to elude her assailant's embraces, Syrinx transforms herself into a bundle of reeds. As the familiarity with classical subjects from myth and legend grew, so did the demand for works of art based on them. Allegory was extremely important in reconciling these classical myths with Christian principles, and this choice of subject has distinct moralising overtones. Such a plate would have been admired not just for its beauty and erudition but may also have appealed to the Renaissance inclination to the erotic.