Trilobed vessel with Two Lovers in a Landscape
Unknown Artist
ca. 1540–45
Medium
Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware), lustered
Dimensions
Overall (confirmed): 2 7/8 × 7 1/4 × 6 1/2 in. (7.3 × 18.4 × 16.5 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Pottery
Culture
Italian, perhaps Urbino with Urbino or Gubbio luster
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Samuel D. Lee Fund, 1941
Accession Number
41.49.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delightful trilobed vessel, crafted around 1540–45 by an unknown Italian artist, captures a tender moment of romance: two lovers embraced in a lush landscape. Shaped with three rounded lobes for an elegant, scalloped form, it measures just under 3 inches tall and 7 inches wide, making it a perfect tabletop treasure from the Renaissance era. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's European Sculpture and Decorative Arts department, it exemplifies the exquisite ceramics produced in central Italy, possibly Urbino, renowned for its masterful lusterwork. Maiolica, a tin-glazed earthenware, ...