238- Polychrome majolica dish with lustre decoration represe - Lot 238

238- Polychrome majolica dish with lustre decoration representing Aphrodite at rest surrounded by three cupids. Faithful companions of the goddess, they are said to have come from her adulterous union with the god Ares. Called "Erotes" (the best known being Eros), three in number, they incarnate according to the PIRANESI brothers the different states of love: need, desire and possession. The marli is decorated with motifs representing phenixes framing heads of cherubim with drapes in a decor of foliage scrolls. The representation of snails, symbol of fertility, suggests the myth of Hermaphordite, son of Hermes and Aphrodite. CASTELLI late 18th-early 19th century, probably the workshop of Carmine GENTILI. D: 45 cm