The Renaissance maiolica from Latium is introduced by its medieval production, decorated with characteristic two-tone manganese-brown and copper green wares, also common in other centers of central-northern Italy. Each centre demonstrated excellence and specialisation that contributed in making the sixteenth century the golden age of Italian maiolica. The section presents the main Italian regions that distinguished themselves in the production of Renaissance maiolica. The fortune of the “Faenza white” lasted from the half of the 16th to the whole 17th century supported by the appreciation for the works produced by Calamelli, Bettisi and Enea Utili workshops, just to mention the best known. The more and more elaborated shapes, often characterized by moulded and interlacing motifs, contrasted with the simplification of the decoration, sometimes not present or just sketched with light and essential brush stokes, from which the term “compediario” arose to indicate the pictorial style (fig.
A similar decorative vividness characterized the more popular “geometrico-fiorito”, geometrical, flowered motif majolica wares.Īctually the real fortune of the potters in Faenza was represented by the creation of a style in opposition with the largely decorated and colored majolica pieces, those ceramics were characterized by an overall thick white glaze, they were called “Faenza white”.
In the middle of the 16th century the decorations on the majolica surface became more and more refined and elaborated and covered allover the background reaching interesting decorative results such as the “quartieri” (panels) motif. 2), “trophies” made up of arms and musical instruments, the latest also painted with colored glazes on a white background. The figurative genre included also a small but precious production of little sculptures, most of them were ink-stands, with devotional and secular subjects.Īnother typical characteristic of the ceramic production of the local workshop during the Renaissance was the bluish-grey glaze (“berretino”) painted allover the surface and decorated with festoons, fruits, leafy spirals motifs, with “grotesques” (fig. Since the first decades of the 16th century, when the “istoriato” style reached its peak, the potters in Faenza used to decorate the refined vessels with stories from the mythology, the holy Bible, the Roman history, they were drawn up from engravings and illustrations. The gothic influenced “gotico-floreale” were flanked by decorations inspired to byzantine, Arabian, and far Eastern motifs such as the relief “zaffera”, the “Italian-Moorish”, the “peacock feather’s eye”, the “Persian little palm” and the “porcelain” style.īetween the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 15th century the ceramic decorations gained several motifs from the Renaissance, in particular they focused on the human figure, initially they were idealized images, such as the love vessels with the portraits of the “belle”, the beautiful beloved women and later they developed true “istorie”, historical narrations. During the early Renaissance particular kinds of decoration, also called “families”, were created. Beside the blue color, which often prevailed, stood out the green and different shades of yellow : cool (“cedrino”) and warm (“pavona”). Beside the majolica vessels also engobed and sgraffiato ceramics came out on the top, they were painted in copper green and iron brown, they were decorated with motifs represented in this publication and had been produced for centuries.Īfter the “archaic” period the majolica pieces were refined under the technological aspect, thanks to a more brilliant and thicker glaze, and with an articulate decorative repertoire characterized by a rich palette of colors. They were richly decorated with zoomorphic, vegetal, epigraphic and armorial motifs, often devoted to the families and illustrious persons in town (fig. In the Middle Ages the potters in Faenza developed a brilliant “archaic “ period, producing majolica (above all jugs, but also “albarelli”, pitchers, bowls, and other shapes) painted with the characteristic colors manganese brown and copper green (seldom the blue). Starting from the Middle Ages Faenza stood out as excellent ceramic centre, so that to join its name to the ceramic typology which distinguished it: the majolica, known in Europe from the middle of the 16th century as faÏence.
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