Majolica cup, Bottega dei Fontana (attributable)

painted in polychrome with the Rape of Ganymede where the prince kidnapped by Zeus is observed, in the guise of a large eagle, observed by a group of shepherds and hunters, with dogs and game, and by two female figures, set in a wooded landscape, at the top right there is a noble coat of arms; on the reverse, in the center of the base there is an inscription in blue underglaze: "de galimede 1542" and a cartouche with collection number. The cup shows restoration work on the left side (two portions reglued with slight pictorial retouching) and slight defects on the edge

h 6 cm, diam 26 cm

A similar cup is preserved in the Medieval Civic Museum of Bologna. Bibliography: Ravanelli Guidotti C. (ed.), Western ceramics of the Medieval Civic Museum of Bologna. Grafis: 1985, pp. 61-64, pp. 148-149; Gardelli G. (ed.), In great fire. Exhibition of Renaissance majolica from the state of Urbino from private collections: Sale del Castellare of Palazzo Ducale, 18 July-6 September 1987, Arti Grafiche di Urbino, Urbino 1987, pp.11-16; Marongiu M. (ed.), The myth of Ganymede before and after Michelangelo, Mandragora, Florence 2002, pp.106-107.