Plate with Hercules and Lichas and arms of the Pucci family

Plate with Hercules and Lichas and arms of the Pucci family

Fra Xanto Avelli da Rovigo

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In the early 1530s, the painter Xanto created an ambitious dinner service for a member of the Pucci family of Florence; six plates from the set are displayed here. On this example, the Pucci arms can be seen at upper left, while at the center, Hercules grabs a would-be assassin by the ankle. The action continues at right, where Hercules’s defeated opponent flies headlong into the sea.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Plate with Hercules and Lichas and arms of the Pucci familyPlate with Hercules and Lichas and arms of the Pucci familyPlate with Hercules and Lichas and arms of the Pucci familyPlate with Hercules and Lichas and arms of the Pucci familyPlate with Hercules and Lichas and arms of the Pucci 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.