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Lot Essay
The figures of Christ and St. Peter are closely related to a painting which Raffaellino da Colle painted circa 1525-30 for the Chiesa di San Pietro in Sassoferrato(1). A print closely corresponding to the scene on the present lot has not been discovered, yet a dish in Brescia is painted with an almost identical scene to the present lot, probably by the same hand(2). The existence of two maiolica dishes with an almost identical composition (which is related to but different from Raffaellino da Colle’s painting) suggests that the painter was working from a design of some sort. As only the figures of Christ and St. Peter on the maiolica dishes are closely transposed from the painting, it seems unlikely that they are based on a lost print.
Raffaellino da Colle may perhaps have provided a design for the maiolica artist to work from, as scholars are currently exploring the possibility that he may have occasionally provided designs for maiolicari(3). Claudio Paolinelli notes the case of an extant maiolica plaque combining elements of two of Raffaellino da Colle’s works painted for in a church in Urbania, suggesting that the plaque may have been based upon several preparatory drawings, or on preparatory drawings different from the final versions(4). Another possibility is that the maiolica artist may have seen Raffaellino da Colle’s painting in situ, as Sassoferrato is not far from Urbino, and lies within historical borders of the Duchy of Urbino. The maiolica artist may have adapted elements from the painting to a working design.
The style of painting on this dish is extremely similar to the work of the anonymous painter dubbed the ‘Milan Marsyas Painter’ by John Mallet, after a piece in Milan painted with that subject(5). A group of works which are very similar in style but slightly different have been given a different painter’s name of ‘Painter of the Milan Mucius Scaevola’, after a piece with that subject also in Milan. A bowl with the scene Emperor Tiberius and King Archelaus in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, which is surely by the same painter as the present lot, has been attributed to the ‘Painter of the Milan Mucius Scaevola’(6), but there still appears to be some uncertainty around whether the two slightly different styles are the work of one painter, or of two painters.
A piece which almost certainly corresponds to the present lot was present in the 1853 Pasolini sale and was sold to ‘Roth’ (presumably Rothschild) for 206 Francs, although a piece of this description is absent from Frati’s 1852 catalogue.
1. This painting is now in the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, and was after a Raphael cartoon for the Vatican Tapestries. See Bruno Passamani et al, Raffaello e Brescia, Echi e presenze, Brescia, 1986, p. 79. A chiaroscuro print by Ugo da Carpi, related to the Raffaellino da Colle painting, is illustrated on the same page, although it is less close to the maiolica dishes, and cannot have been the source for the maiolica pieces.
2. In the Museo della Città, see Claudio Paolinelli, ‘Raffaellino del Colle: “Fama costante è qui, che questo grand’uomo molto lavorasse per le Majoliche”’ in Quaderni dell’Accademia Fanestre, n. 7, Urbino, 2000, p. 300, fig. 1, and Passamani et al, ibid., 1986, pp. 78-79, no. 1.
3. See Claudio Paolinelli, ibid., p. 299 and p. 307, note 2, citing the source, although it isn’t absolutely certain (see p. 307).
4. See Paolinelli, ibid., pp. 302-306.
5. After a plate in the Castello Sforzesco, Milan, see J.V.G. Mallet, ‘Xanto: i suoi compagni e seguaci’ Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi: Francesco Xanto Avelli da Rovigo (Rovigo, 3-4 May 1980), Rovigo, 1988, pp. 71-73. For a color illustration of this piece, see Françoise Barbe et al., Majolique, La faïence italienne au temps des humanistes 1480-1530, Château d’Ecouen October 2011-February 2012 Exhibition Catalogue, Paris, 2011, p. 137.
6. The piece is also in the Castello Sforzesco, Milan, and Wilson notes that the suggestion of the name was made by Raffaella Ausenda; see Timothy Wilson, Italian Maiolica and Europe, Oxford, 2017, p. 142 for a discussion about this.
Raffaellino da Colle may perhaps have provided a design for the maiolica artist to work from, as scholars are currently exploring the possibility that he may have occasionally provided designs for maiolicari(3). Claudio Paolinelli notes the case of an extant maiolica plaque combining elements of two of Raffaellino da Colle’s works painted for in a church in Urbania, suggesting that the plaque may have been based upon several preparatory drawings, or on preparatory drawings different from the final versions(4). Another possibility is that the maiolica artist may have seen Raffaellino da Colle’s painting in situ, as Sassoferrato is not far from Urbino, and lies within historical borders of the Duchy of Urbino. The maiolica artist may have adapted elements from the painting to a working design.
The style of painting on this dish is extremely similar to the work of the anonymous painter dubbed the ‘Milan Marsyas Painter’ by John Mallet, after a piece in Milan painted with that subject(5). A group of works which are very similar in style but slightly different have been given a different painter’s name of ‘Painter of the Milan Mucius Scaevola’, after a piece with that subject also in Milan. A bowl with the scene Emperor Tiberius and King Archelaus in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, which is surely by the same painter as the present lot, has been attributed to the ‘Painter of the Milan Mucius Scaevola’(6), but there still appears to be some uncertainty around whether the two slightly different styles are the work of one painter, or of two painters.
A piece which almost certainly corresponds to the present lot was present in the 1853 Pasolini sale and was sold to ‘Roth’ (presumably Rothschild) for 206 Francs, although a piece of this description is absent from Frati’s 1852 catalogue.
1. This painting is now in the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, and was after a Raphael cartoon for the Vatican Tapestries. See Bruno Passamani et al, Raffaello e Brescia, Echi e presenze, Brescia, 1986, p. 79. A chiaroscuro print by Ugo da Carpi, related to the Raffaellino da Colle painting, is illustrated on the same page, although it is less close to the maiolica dishes, and cannot have been the source for the maiolica pieces.
2. In the Museo della Città, see Claudio Paolinelli, ‘Raffaellino del Colle: “Fama costante è qui, che questo grand’uomo molto lavorasse per le Majoliche”’ in Quaderni dell’Accademia Fanestre, n. 7, Urbino, 2000, p. 300, fig. 1, and Passamani et al, ibid., 1986, pp. 78-79, no. 1.
3. See Claudio Paolinelli, ibid., p. 299 and p. 307, note 2, citing the source, although it isn’t absolutely certain (see p. 307).
4. See Paolinelli, ibid., pp. 302-306.
5. After a plate in the Castello Sforzesco, Milan, see J.V.G. Mallet, ‘Xanto: i suoi compagni e seguaci’ Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi: Francesco Xanto Avelli da Rovigo (Rovigo, 3-4 May 1980), Rovigo, 1988, pp. 71-73. For a color illustration of this piece, see Françoise Barbe et al., Majolique, La faïence italienne au temps des humanistes 1480-1530, Château d’Ecouen October 2011-February 2012 Exhibition Catalogue, Paris, 2011, p. 137.
6. The piece is also in the Castello Sforzesco, Milan, and Wilson notes that the suggestion of the name was made by Raffaella Ausenda; see Timothy Wilson, Italian Maiolica and Europe, Oxford, 2017, p. 142 for a discussion about this.