Ewer with the Abduction of Deianira
about 1545–155011 1/2 x 5 1/8 x 6 7/16 in. (29.21 x 13.02 x 16.35 cm)
Fontana workshop (Italian, active about 1520–1591)
Creation Place:
Urbino, Italy
Medium:
Earthenware with tin glaze (maiolica)
Credit Line:
Bequest of Charles Phelps Taft and Anna Sinton Taft
Accession Number:
1931.237
Currently on View in:
Myths & Mortals (5)
Exhibition History
Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. Art and Fashion of the Renaissance, October 4–November 30, 1946.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.
Gallery Label
Renaissance craftsmen painted images on ceramics that told biblical and mythological stories. This ewer depicts the attempted abduction of Hercules’s wife, Deianira, by the centaur Nessus. To save her, Hercules shot a poisoned arrow into the centaur’s heart—the moment shown here. This ornate vessel, with its dramatic handle of entwined snakes, might have been filled with water scented with rosemary, chamomile, or rose petals. Servants would have poured this water over guests’ hands at a banquet table. Ewers like this also may have been displayed purely for decorative purposes.
Provenance
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.
Additional Images
Click an image to view a larger version
Collection Lists
This artwork is in the following list(s):
