Plate with Paris Killing Achilles and arms of the Calini family

Plate with Paris Killing Achilles and arms of the Calini family

Nicolo da Gabriele Sbraghe

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Classical mythology and biblical history are the most popular themes found on Renaissance maiolica. For inspiration, painters looked to widely circulated prints, carefully modifying the rectangular compositions to better suit the round, contoured surfaces of tableware. Here, the artist altered a print by pushing the story’s most important elements—such as Achilles’s vulnerable heel—to the edge of the plate so that they would remain visible regardless of the presence of food. The arms seen on the plate have been identified as those of the Calini of Brescia.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Plate with Paris Killing Achilles and arms of the Calini familyPlate with Paris Killing Achilles and arms of the Calini familyPlate with Paris Killing Achilles and arms of the Calini familyPlate with Paris Killing Achilles and arms of the Calini familyPlate with Paris Killing Achilles and arms of the Calini family

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.