On view at the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia through January 5, 2020, “Storytelling in Renaissance Maiolica†is an exhibit featuring decorated dinnerware.
In Renaissance Italy, maiolica was the standard form of pottery used to serve these welcoming meals. Highlighted works are several of these tin-glazed earthenware plates from 16th-century Urbino and Venice.
The show will also have two recent museum purchased pieces of maiolica and are works made in the workshop of Guido Durantino (Guido Fontana; active 1520-1576) and his son Orazio in Urbino, Italy. These works depict mythological subjects from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a Roman narrative poem.
Islamic potters developed the process of making maiolica around 800 BCE, emulating Chinese white porcelain. Islamic rule in Spain from the 8th to the 15th century spread the technique to Europe. The technique requires covering a fired ceramic with a white glaze containing tin oxide. The result is a blank slate for decorating. Decorating this surface requires skill and determination. Fused glaze does not forgive mistakes. The final product is durable and remains bright and colorful for centuries.
Dining was considered one of the most important social activities of aristocratic life. This was an ideal occasion to demonstrate one’s elevated status, good taste and erudition. Banquets featured multiple courses that required a large number of serving pieces to present and distribute the food, which was eaten with one’s hands.
In composing the painted narratives, artists often exploited the varying surfaces and depressions of the piece on which it appeared to reveal the story sequentially, enhancing the impact of the imagery as the diner emptied the dish.
Inscriptions appear on the backs of many pieces of historiated maiolica, which recorded the subject matter, date, site of production, artist and excerpts from poetry.
For more information, including more on this show, see: www.georgiamuseum.org or call 706.542.4662.