29B
Marcantonio Raimondi (Italian,
ca. 1470/82-1527/34) after
Raphael (Italian, 1483-1520).
The Abduction of Helen,
ca. 1510-20. Engraving. Vienna,
Graphische Sammlung Albertina,
inv. 1970/425.
(fig. 29B). This image was apparently a favorite of the
artist and his peers, including Nicola da Urbino, since it
appears with slight variations on numerous plates of the
early sixteenth century. The consistency of these Ab
duction of Helen scenes indicates that instead of copying
the engraving freehand, the artists may have used a tem
plate of some sort—probably either traced or punched
with holes, through which powder was forced—to trans
fer the image to the ceramic plates.^8
Other versions of this subject either signed by or at
tributed to Xanto include two plates in the Musee du
Louvre, Paris (inv. Cluny 915, OA 1839);^9 one formerly in
the Schlossmuseum, Berlin (probably destroyed);^10 one in
the Colocci Honorati collection, Jesi;^11 and one formerly
in the Pringsheim collection, Munich.^12 Another plate of
the subject formerly in the Pringsheim collection is
attributed to Nicola da Urbino;^13 and two others, for
merly attributed to Xanto, are now given to the so-called
Painter of the Apollo Basin.^14 In addition, numerous
plates by Xanto copy portions of the engraving rather
than the entire scene.^15 Many of these plates bear in
scriptions that are identical or nearly so to that on the
Getty's plate, which is among the largest and most faith
ful to the original engraving.
Notes
- "Trionfo d'amore," bk. i, 11. 136-38: "Seco e '1 pastor che mal il suo bel
volto /miro si fiso, ond'uscir gran tempeste,/e funne il mondo sottosopra
volto." - See no. 30 below. For information on Xanto Avelli see the various and
informative publications by Julia Triolo, including "The Armorial
Maiolica of Francesco Xanto Avelli" (Ph.D. diss., Pennsylvania State
University, 1996); "Francesco Xanto Avelli's Pucci Service (1532-1533):
A Catalogue," Faenza 74 (1988): 37-44, 228-84; an< 3 her entries in the
forthcoming Castello Sforzesco, Milan, catalogue. - These sonnets are presently in the Vatican Library; see Cioci 1987. For
other examples of Xanto as a literary amateur see Wilson 1990, 321-27,-
Holcroft 1988, 225-34. - See Mallet 1984, 384-402.
- According to a plate dated 1530 in the Castello Sforzesco, Milan
(inv. M232). - Wilson 1987A, 52; see also Mallet 1987, 33.
- Interestingly, these documents indicate that the workshop heads in
volved in the dispute included Guido Durantino and Nicola di Gabriele
Sbraghe (Negroni 1986, 18, no. 33). - For further information on this topic see Hess 1999, 14-19; Rondot
1994 , 18-49; Talvacchia 1994, 121-53; Petruzzellis-Scherer 1980,
321-71. - Chompret 1949, 2: figs. 988, 995; Giacomotti 1974, nos. 856, 866.
- Ballardini 1938 , 2: no. 191.
- Ballardini 1938, 2: no. 41.
- Sale cat., Christie's, London, February 28, 1994, lot 130; Ballardini 1938,
2: no. 192, fig. 182; Falke 1914-23, 2: no. 267, pi. 138. - Sale cat., Christie's, New York, October 6, 1993, lot 24.
- One in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv. c. 2232-1910;
Rackham 1940, 1: no. 634; 2: pi. 100), and the other in the Museo Inter-
nazionale delle Ceramiche, Faenza ("Accessioni al Museo," Faenza 32
[1946]: pi. 19a). For this new attribution see J. V. G. Mallet's forthcoming
publication of a paper given in Gubbio. - See, for example, Poole 1995, 340-42, no. 392.
Plate with the Abduction of Helen 169