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Pair of Salt Cellars with the Story of Actaeon
(Renaissance Europe )
This pair of salt cellars is decorated with the popular tale of Actaeon from "The Metamorphoses" by the Roman poet Ovid (43 BC-AD 17). Actaeon, a young hunter, accidentally sees the goddess Diana bathing. She notices the young hunter and, in a rage, transforms him into a stag. Actaeon's hunting dogs do not recognize him and kill him. The moral of this story was that it is possible to sin unintentionally.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Frederic Spitzer [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Sale, Paris, April 17, 1893, lot 519-20; Jacques Seligmann, Paris [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Geographies
France, Limoges (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 3 1/4 x W: 5 1/4 in. (8.2 x 13.4 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1902
Location in Museum
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
VO.11 (44.339, 44.340)