A pair of Castelli maiolica framed rectangular plaques probably Gentili workshop, mid 18th century

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Description

24.2cm., 9 1/2 in. by 29.8cm., 11 3/4 in. including frame; 20cm., 8 7/8 in. by 25.5cm., 10in. excluding frame

painted with scenes depicting the Hesperides offering the first lemons to the god of Lake Garda, and classical maidens attended by putti drawing water from a stream, each in a giltwood frame with foliate border

Catalogue Note

A circular plaque painted with the same scene of the Hesperides offering the first lemons to the god of Lake Garda, and attributed to the Gentili workshop, is illustrated by Luciana Arnace, Maioliche di Castelli La Raccolta Acerbo, no.158. The scene is derived from an engraving by Cornelius Bloemaert after Poussin, published in 1646 in Horti Hesperides, a treatise on the cultivation of lemons by Padre Ferrari.