Dish
ca. 1560 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
An inscription on the reverse of this dish: 'Artrusa et Alafeo' identifies the scene depicted on the front. The story, based on Greek mythology was taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Arethusa was a beautiful nymph and the favourite of Diana, goddess of the hunt. All men who set eyes upon Arethusa fell in love with her. This also happened to the river god Alpheus. After a hunt, Arethusa bathed herself in a river, shown on the dish on the bottom right. Alpheus, who was madly in love with her, became the river to get close to her. Arethusa fled the water and was pursued by Alpheus appearing in his human form. Diana came to her aid by transforming her into a river in a far land.
Object details
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Tin-glazed earthenware |
| Brief description | Dish, tin-glazed earthenware painted in colours, depicting the story of Alpheus and Arethusa, Urbino, about 1560, probably Fontana workshops |
| Dimensions |
|
| Marks and inscriptions | 'Artrusa et Alafeo' (The inscription on the reverse identifies the scene depicted on the front of the dish)
|
| Credit line | Bernard H. Webb Bequest |
| Summary | An inscription on the reverse of this dish: 'Artrusa et Alafeo' identifies the scene depicted on the front. The story, based on Greek mythology was taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Arethusa was a beautiful nymph and the favourite of Diana, goddess of the hunt. All men who set eyes upon Arethusa fell in love with her. This also happened to the river god Alpheus. After a hunt, Arethusa bathed herself in a river, shown on the dish on the bottom right. Alpheus, who was madly in love with her, became the river to get close to her. Arethusa fled the water and was pursued by Alpheus appearing in his human form. Diana came to her aid by transforming her into a river in a far land. |
| Bibliographic reference | Not in Rackham; not in Sani |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | CIRC.340-1919 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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