Marvels of Maiolica: Italian Renaissance Ceramics from the Corcoran Gallery of Art CollectionMarvels of Maiolicaexplores the rich history and ornate stylesof these beautiful wares as well as the key role they played in Renaissance society. Maiolica, or tin-glazed earthenware, flourished in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries throughout the Italian peninsula as apothecary jars, serving plates, bowls, intricately shaped flasks, graceful vases, decorative salts, and figurative inkstands, often painted with provocative narrative images based on subjects from classical mythology, history, or religion. They were testament to their owner's erudition and helped encourage lively conversation at the shop or dining table. Maiolica was also used for floor tiles, devotional objects, and splendid gifts to celebrate family events, such as betrothals, weddings, or childbirth. By recognizing the prominent place these valued ceramics held in everyday life, Jacqueline Marie Musacchio illuminates the complex nature of Italian Renaissance society. With full-color illustrations of the most impressive works from the Corcoran's William A. Clark Collection, this authoritative book is a rare treat for collectors and admirers of maiolica. Marvels of Maiolica is the first book on the collection in almost twenty years and is published to coincide with a traveling exhibition opening in April 2004. Jacqueline Marie Musacchio is Assistant Professor in the Art Department at Vassar College and the author of the award-winning book The Art and Ritual of Childbirth in Renaissance Italy. |
Common terms and phrases
Albarello Anne Barnett Hazel apothecaries Avelli da Rovigo Barry Schuler Bernard Koteen Board of Overseers bowls Camilla Castel Durante Castelli century Corcoran Gallery ceramists Chairman childbirth Cipriano Piccolpasso circa Clark Collection commemorate composition contemporary Deane Shatz decorative Deruta Diam display plates Ewer Basin Faenza fantastic figure Fontana Workshop Francesco Xanto Avelli Freeborn G Gallery of Art gifts glazed earthenware grottesche Gubbio Guidobaldo da Montefeltro heraldry important Inkstand inscription Isabella d'Este istoriato John the Baptist late fifteenth century Leonardo Lorenzo luster lusterwares maiolica maiolica wares Marcantonio Raimondi Marjorie Fleischmann Marvels of Maiolica mid-sixteenth century Museum Board Niemczewski Orazio Fontana Orazio Pompeii Overseers Anne Barnett painted Patanazzi Workshop patrons pieces popular porcelain prints Quadrilateral Flask Renaissance Italy Ruesch Saint John served shapes sixteenth century Corcoran Sleeping Knight Tall Drug Jar teenth-century tiles tin-glazed earthenware Tuscany vase vessels Votive Plaque Washington Watson white maiolica William women Workshop of Orazio