This plate, which has the date 1533 painted on the reverse, was made by Francesco Xanto Avelli (circa 1487 – circa 1542), one of the greatest producers of maiolica in the Italian city of Urbino. This major centre for Umbrian art was then under the control of the powerful Della Rovere family. Inspired by classical Antiquity, Xanto Avelli recreates a scene from the Greek mythology: the fight between Hercules, wearing his distinctive lion’s skin, and Cacus, trying to steal one of the cattles Hercules plundered from Geryon, the three-headed giant.

For this composition, the artist took inspiration from a series of etchings by Gian Giacomo Caraglio (1505-1565). The scene covers the entire plate, following the narrative genre that truly transformed these pieces into paintings. From 1530 onwards, the influence of narrative 'maiolica' ceramics produced in Urbino spread to many workshops in Italy.