Every Thursday, as part of my personal “enriched environment” initiative, I post a piece of art, usually from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which recently released online some 400,000 high-resolution images of its collection. All artwork will show a sun (or sunlight) somewhere.
I won’t name the piece or the artist, but instead invite you to study the art and post a comment addressing one or more of these questions:
- What is going on in this picture?
- What do you see that makes you say that?
- What more can you find?
If you have another idea, run with it.
Special Update! The New York Times website does this same exercise every Monday with a news photo that is uncaptioned and contains no text (click!). The Times asks viewers the same three questions:
- What is going on in this picture?
- What do you see that makes you say that?
- What more can you find?
However, at the end of the week, the Times posts the background information on the picture. So, I’ve decided to do the same. I’ll still post an unlabeled piece of art on Thursday. But return on Sunday (for the Sunny Sundays post!) and you’ll find an update on the artwork here.
Note: To embiggen the image, click on it!
Armorial Plate (tondino): The story of King Midas
Artist: Nicola da Urbino (Italian, active by 1520–died ?1537/38 Urbino)
Date: ca. 1520–25
Medium: Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware)
Dimensions: Diam. 10 13/16 in. (27.5 cm)
Classification: Ceramics-Pottery
In Renaissance Italy, fine maiolica was often associated with the relaxed yet elegant atmosphere of the country estate, where hospitality was generally overseen by women. This plate belongs to a service commissioned by Eleonora Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino, as a gift for her mother, Isabella d’Este, Marchioness of Mantua. On all the known pieces, Isabella’s arms are joined with those of her husband, Gianfrancesco Gonzaga. The arms are frequently accompanied by mottoes and heraldic or personal badges belonging to Isabella or her husband. Twenty-one pieces of the service survive, all decorated by the greatest maiolica painter of the sixteenth century, Nicola da Urbino. The center of this dish shows Isabella’s coat of arms surrounded by three of her personal emblems: a musical scroll, a candelabrum with one lit candle, and a bunch of lottery tickets. On the rim is a portrayal of the musical contest between Apollo and Pan judged by King Midas, a subject recounted in Ovid’s “Metamorphoses.” The subtle coloring and delicate execution of the expansive landscape setting reveal the artist’s consummate skill.
Sun shining off in the distance towards the right. It’s a sunset. Then in front you have a group of gentlemen? Plus Pan playing the pipes and some colleague of his, who has left his pipes lying on the ground. And then you have the center circle displaying a coat of arms. I’m interested to know what’s the story of the scene.
Was this part of the dishware for some rich person, or just a one off? It is s o detailed and colorful !!!
I think some of the people are women, but I admit it is strange that they have such short pants on and are showing bare legs. What was the purpose of this artwork? Was it intended as a dish you’d use to eat off of, or was it something you hung on the walls? Were there other dishes exactly like it, with the same design, or was there a series of dishes, each showing a different scene?