118- Majolica dish with polychrome lustre decoration represe - Lot 118

118- Majolica dish with polychrome lustre decoration representing the arrival of Aphrodite on the island of Cyprus. Goddess of beauty and love, Aphrodite meaning "born of foam" is represented on a conch (symbol of fertility) pulled by two dolphins. She is greeted by the Three Hours, deities personifying the units of time and designated by Homer as "the doors of heaven". The marli is richly decorated with foliage and flower scrolls, cartouches decorated with masks and putti sitting on leafy garlands holding cups containing fruit. According to the myth recounted by Hesiod in Theogony, Aphrodite was born from the foam of the waves after the mutilation of Ouranos; Zephyr saw her as she came out of the wave, collected her in a mother-of-pearl conch and took her to the island of Cyprus, also called the island of Aphrodite. CASTELLI XVIIIth century, probably workshop of Carmine GENTILI. D : 49 cm