Highlights from the Collection

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Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. Art and Fashion of the Renaissance, October 4–November 30, 1946.
Michigan. Detroit Institute of Arts. Decorative Arts of the Italian Renaissance, 1400–1600, November 18, 1958–January 4, 1959.
Ohio. Dayton Art Institute. Ceramic Art from Area Collections, July 28–September 23, 1984.
Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. A Fortune in Fantasy: A Treasury of Rare Decorative Arts, November 21, 1985–January 19, 1986, no. 7 (as Dish depicting Apollo and the Muses on Mt. Parnassus).
Ohio. Cincinnati Art Museum. Museum within a Museum: Treasures from the Taft at the Cincinnati Art Museum, January 12, 2002–February 2003 (during TMA renovation).
Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. In a New Light: Treasures from the Taft, July 3, 2021–May 1, 2022.

A wide border of leaves and bearded masks frames this dish’s central scene. Beneath a canopy of lush trees, six women surround a man holding a stringed instrument. Snow-capped mountains and a tranquil river appear in the distance. A painting by the Italian artist Raphael (1483–1520) likely served as the inspiration for this composition. It shows the god Apollo surrounded by the Muses—goddesses who inspired creativity in the arts and sciences.

Acquired by Baron Adolphe de Rothschild, Paris. (Acquired by Duveen, New York, NY); purchased by Charles Phelps Taft [1843-1929] and Anna Sinton Taft [1850-1931], Cincinnati, OH, March 6, 1924; donated to the Cincinnati Institute of Fine Arts, Cincinnati, OH, May 21, 1927 [1]; transferred to the Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, OH, September 1, 2006 [2].

Notes:

[1]. The Cincinnati Institute of Fine Arts (CIFA) was formed by Charles Phelps and Anna Sinton Taft on March 22, 1927 as a non-profit corporation to stimulate the development of art and music in the City of Cincinnati and run the Taft Museum of Art, which opened in 1932. The Tafts offered $1 million for a permanent endowment fund, on the condition that the community raise $2.5 million in matching funds, which was achieved by December 3, 1928. [2]. Until August 31, 2006, the Museum was owned by CIFA, administered by CIFA’s Board of Trustees, and governed by the Taft Museum Board of Overseers. On September 1, 2006, the Museum legally separated from CIFA and began operations as its own incorporated 501(c)(3) entity. This separate incorporation led to the transfer to the separate entity after August 31, 2006 of all tangible assets comprising the Taft collection.

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