Footed Dish Depicting Abraham and Isaac (c. 1545–63): Art, History and Details

Footed Dish Depicting Abraham and Isaac (c. 1545–63) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Ludovico and Angelo Picchi.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

During the Renaissance, scenes from the Christian Bible were prominently featured on maiolica, covering the surface in a style called istoriato (decorated with stories). This plate depicts a scene an Old Testament narrative in which Abraham believes that God wants him to sacrifice his son Isaac. Before he can carry out the deed, God sends a ram to sacrifice instead.

Object facts

• Title: Footed Dish Depicting Abraham and Isaac
• Date: c. 1545–63
• Creator attribution: Ludovico and Angelo Picchi
• Culture: Italy, Urbino region, Castel-Durante, 16th century
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)
• Dimensions: Diameter: 7 x 27.3 cm (2 3/4 x 10 3/4 in.)
• Collection: Decorative Arts
• Department: Decorative Art and Design
• Accession number: 1945.125

A detail from the museum

The shape of this dish imitates the fluted, curving shape of sixteenth-century metalwork.

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Philip R. Mather

Further reading listed by the museum

• Foote, Helen S. “Gifts to the Majolica Collection.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 33, no. 4 (April 1946): 36–38.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.