Dish (coppa): Hercules slays the centaur Nessus 1525

This glazed earthenware dish, crafted around 1530 in Urbino by Maestro Giorgio Andreoli, depicts Hercules slaying the centaur Nessus. The mythic struggle is immediately apparent: Hercules, with his muscular build, brandishes a club overhead as he confronts Nessus. This scene, rooted in classical antiquity, carries echoes through the ages. Consider the centaur, a hybrid creature symbolizing the duality of man—reason and animal instinct. This motif finds resonance in various forms across cultures, embodying the conflict between our higher and lower selves. We see variations of this struggle throughout history, with similar creatures symbolizing the untamed and instinctual aspects of human nature. The act of slaying the centaur embodies a triumph over chaos and irrationality. The emotional intensity captured in their struggle reflects our collective subconscious, where primal fears and desires collide. The re-emergence of such symbols underscores the non-linear progression of cultural memory, revealing how ancient struggles continue to shape our understanding of ourselves.