Dish with The Woman of Sestos and the Eagle and arms of the Pucci family

Dish with The Woman of Sestos and the Eagle and arms of the Pucci family

Fra Xanto Avelli da Rovigo

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

An inscription on the reverse of this dish identifies the story—a loyal eagle choosing to die alongside the maiden who raised him—and its source, the Roman author Pliny the Elder. The bystanders on the rim react to the action that would have been entirely covered by food. With the dish empty, we see how the painter cleverly used the convex shape to promote a sense of recession within the scene.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Dish with The Woman of Sestos and the Eagle and arms of the Pucci familyDish with The Woman of Sestos and the Eagle and arms of the Pucci familyDish with The Woman of Sestos and the Eagle and arms of the Pucci familyDish with The Woman of Sestos and the Eagle and arms of the Pucci familyDish with The Woman of Sestos and the Eagle 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.