Large Piedmont dish, ca. mid-17th century Majolica.... Lot 47

Large Piedmont dish, ca. mid-17th century Majolica. Make: absent. 41 cm diameter. Conservation: very good@@@ insignificant glaze skips at rim. The lathe-molded, unmarked dish has a ring foot of minimal relief. The decoration, executed in blue monochrome on a "berettino" ground, includes the wreath of thronged leaves placed along the brim, and includes four slender compositions of fruit, as many of flowers, extended over the obverse and brim, arranged symmetrically, alternating the two different elements. The same pattern is repeated, simplified, to decorate the back of the ingiro. The figures painted on the wide surface of the cavetto, aware of Ligurian stylistic outcomes, represent the myth of Hercules and Nessus, narrated by Ovid in Book IX of the Metamorphoses, verses 101-58. It is alluded to in Book XII, verses 308-9. Nessus offers to transport Deianira, Hercules' new bride, to the other side of the river Evéno. The hero swims across it. Seizing the opportunity, the centaur attempts to abduct the woman, but is pierced by an arrow. As can be seen, Nessus wears the shirt that, soaked in her poisonous blood, will be fatal to Hercules: in fact, Deianira believes it is capable of securing the love of the wearer, according to the deceitful words of the dying centaur. The majolica can be attributed to Piedmontese production, around the mid-17th century.