This large plate was produced in the celebrated sixteenth-century workshop of the Fontana family in Urbino, in central Italy, which specialized in multi-colored, tin-glazed ceramics known as maiolica. Luxurious plates like this were typically meant for display, not for the table.
The mythological scene in the center depicts a well-known episode of classical mythology. The son of the King of Troy, Paris, seated on a rock at left, has been tasked with judging who is the most beautiful of the three goddesses standing before him: from left to right, Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena. Here, he hands the prize, a golden apple, to the winner, Aphrodite—who had secretly promised to give him, in exchange for winning, the most beautiful mortal woman in the world, Helen of Sparta. Paris receives his bribe, Helen—who is already married to the Greek king, Menelaus. This is the event that sparks the Trojan War, as the Greeks seek to retrieve Helen from Troy. The image is based on an engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi after a drawing by Raphael. Decorative designs of fantastical creatures—called grotesques—frame the central scene, all rendered in the finest strokes in the challenging medium of tin-glaze.
Dish: Judgment of Paris
Italian Renaissance maiolica pieces are remarkable for their rich and colorful decoration. The center of this large dish illustrates a narrative scene, or istoriato, depicting the Judgment of Paris, one of the most famous Greek myths. At the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, Eris, the goddess of discord, arrives with a golden apple inscribed “for the fairest.” Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena all claim the apple and ask Zeus to judge which of them is fairest. Reluctant to declare a winner himself, Zeus commands Paris, son of Priam, King of Troy, to judge their case. The scene, which depicts the moment when Paris presents the golden apple to Aphrodite, is based on an engraving of around 1517–20 made by Marcantonio Raimondi after a drawing by Raphael. The figures are surrounded by colorful grotesques delicately painted on a white ground, a specialty of the renowned workshop of Orazio Fontana in Urbino, to which the best pieces, including this one, are usually attributed.
Source: Vignon, Charlotte. The Frick Collection Decorative Arts Handbook. New York: The Frick Collection/Scala, 2015.
