DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42863#0398
368 ISABELLA’S DINNER-SERVICE
fables, and stories of surpassing beauty. I in-
quired about the service which you ordered. It
is impossible to give any idea of the price without
knowing the quality and quantity of the pieces
required. But they tell me that one of the large
dishes would be about two and a half ducats, and
the smaller ones a ducat, or a ducat and a half
each. Bowls and round dishes are three or four
ducats a-piece, according to the style of workman-
ship, which varies considerably in excellence.” 1
Many pieces of the magnificent dinner services
which once belonged to Isabella are still in exist-
ence, and may be seen in public and private
collections. There are seventeen plates in the
Correr Museum at Venice, bearing the Este and
Gonzaga arms, and painted with graceful mytho-
logical figures—Apollo playing the viol, and Orpheus
charming the wild beasts with his magic song—in
which Morelli recognised the hand of Raphael’s
master, Timoteo Viti. Another plate, painted with
Isabella’s favourite device of musical notes and
rests, may be seen in the Bologna Museum; while
several richly - coloured dishes are in the British
Museum. The last-named pieces all bear the Este
and Gonzaga arms, supported by winged boys, and
the motto Nec spe nec metu. Two of the largest
dishes are decorated with groups of Apollo slaying
the Python, and Daphne turning into the laurel
bush as the Sun-god lays his hand upon her.2 But
the finest of all is the scodella or bowl in M.
Alphonse de Rothschild’s collection in Paris, which
M. Jacquemart has called the masterpiece of Italian
1 Campori, Notizie, &c., p. 111.
2 Lermolieff, Gallerie zu Berlin, p. 219, &c.
fables, and stories of surpassing beauty. I in-
quired about the service which you ordered. It
is impossible to give any idea of the price without
knowing the quality and quantity of the pieces
required. But they tell me that one of the large
dishes would be about two and a half ducats, and
the smaller ones a ducat, or a ducat and a half
each. Bowls and round dishes are three or four
ducats a-piece, according to the style of workman-
ship, which varies considerably in excellence.” 1
Many pieces of the magnificent dinner services
which once belonged to Isabella are still in exist-
ence, and may be seen in public and private
collections. There are seventeen plates in the
Correr Museum at Venice, bearing the Este and
Gonzaga arms, and painted with graceful mytho-
logical figures—Apollo playing the viol, and Orpheus
charming the wild beasts with his magic song—in
which Morelli recognised the hand of Raphael’s
master, Timoteo Viti. Another plate, painted with
Isabella’s favourite device of musical notes and
rests, may be seen in the Bologna Museum; while
several richly - coloured dishes are in the British
Museum. The last-named pieces all bear the Este
and Gonzaga arms, supported by winged boys, and
the motto Nec spe nec metu. Two of the largest
dishes are decorated with groups of Apollo slaying
the Python, and Daphne turning into the laurel
bush as the Sun-god lays his hand upon her.2 But
the finest of all is the scodella or bowl in M.
Alphonse de Rothschild’s collection in Paris, which
M. Jacquemart has called the masterpiece of Italian
1 Campori, Notizie, &c., p. 111.
2 Lermolieff, Gallerie zu Berlin, p. 219, &c.