Italian sixteenth-century maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware) was often colourfully painted with subjects and motifs from Classical Antiquity. This ravishing dish, enhanced with iridescent metallic lustre, was made in 1525 in Maestro Giorgio Andreoli’s workshop in Gubbio. Francesco Xanto Avelli probably painted the central scene, in which the women are copied from prints of Classical subjects. The grotesque border ornament was inspired by Roman precedents.

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