Dish with Pomona

Bernard Palissy

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruits, was associated more generally with orchards and gardens in the Renaissance. Here, she is surrounded by flowers and gardening tools: a spade, a watering jar, and a rake. A garden with a fountain appears in the background. Like the pruning tools displayed nearby, the dish attests to the nobility’s growing interest in horticulture at this time. The scene is based on an engraving by Philis Galle (1537–1612) after a composition by Marten de Vos (1532–1603).

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art