A late 17th/early 18th century Italian gilt bronze relief plaque of a mythological hunting scene, of oval form, cast and chased in low relief, depicting the hunt scene of Classical mythology where Arcas is restrained by Zeus as he is about to the strike Castillo who has been transformed into a bear by Artemis, below them is a scene of Hercules wrestling the Nemean lion, all surrounded by an egg and dart moulded border, originally gilt but now rubbed throughout, 28.5cm high

Footnote: Callisto was the daughter of Lycaon, King of Arcadia and also was one of Artemis' hunting attendants. As a companion of Artemis, she took a vow of chastity. Zeus appeared to her disguised as Artemis, or in some stories Apollo, gaining her confidence and took advantage of her or, according to Ovid, raped her. As a result of this encounter, she conceived a son, Arcas. Enraged, Hera or Artemis (some accounts say both) changed her into a bear. Arcas almost killed the bear, but Zeus stopped him just in time. Out of pity, Zeus placed Callisto the bear into the heavens, thus the origin of Callisto the Bear as a constellation. Some stories say that he placed both Arcas and Callisto into the heavens as bears, forming the Ursa Minor and Ursa Major constellations.

Dimensions: 28.5cm high