Maiolica: Italian Renaissance Ceramics in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Maiolica: Italian Renaissance Ceramics in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Author: Timothy Wilson

Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Published: 2016-08-29

Total Pages: 394

ISBN-13: 1588395618

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The form of tin-glazed earthenware known as maiolica reveals much about the culture and spirit of Renaissance Italy. Engagingly decorative, often spectacularly colorful, sometimes whimsical or frankly bawdy, these magnificent objects, which were generally made for use rather than simple ornamentation, present a fascinating glimpse into the realities of daily life. Though not as well known as Renaissance painting and sculpture, maiolica is also prized by collectors and amateurs of the decorative arts the world over. This volume offers highlights of the world-class collection of maiolica at the Metropolitan Museum. It presents 135 masterpieces that reflect more than four hundred years of exquisite artistry, ranging from early pieces from Pesaro—including an eight-figure group of the Lamentation, the largest, most ambitious piece of sculpture produced in a Renaissance maiolica workshop—to everyday objects such as albarelli (pharmacy jars), bella donna plates, and humorous genre scenes. Each piece has been newly photographed for this volume, and each is presented with a full discussion, provenance, exhibition history, publication history, notes on form and glaze, and condition report. Two essays by Timothy Wilson, widely considered the foremost scholar in the field, provide overviews of the history and technique of maiolica as well as an account of the formation of The Met's collection. Also featured is a wide-ranging introduction by Luke Syson that examines how the function of an object governed the visual and compositional choices made by the pottery painter. As the latest volume in The Met's series of decorative arts highlights, Maiolica is an invaluable resource for scholars and collectors as well as an absorbing general introduction to a multifaceted subject.


The Arts of Fire

The Arts of Fire

Author: Catherine Hess

Publisher: Getty Publications

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 089236758X

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Students and scholars of the Italian Renaissance easily fall under the spell of its achievements: its self-confident humanism, its groundbreaking scientific innovations, its ravishing artistic production. Yet many of the developments in Italian ceramics and glass were made possible by Italy's proximity to the Islamic world. The Arts of Fire underscores how central the Islamic influence was on this luxury art of the Italian Renaissance. Published to coincide with an exhibition at the Getty Museum on view from May 4 to August 5, 2004, The Arts of Fire demonstrates how many of the techniques of glass and ceramic production and ornamentation were first developed in the Islamic East between the eighth and twelfth centuries. These techniques - enamel and gilding on glass and tin-glaze and lustre on ceramics - produced brilliant and colourful decoration that was a source of awe and admiration, transforming these crafts, for the first time, into works of art and true luxury commodities. Essays by Catherine Hess, George Saliba, and Linda Komaroff demonstrate early modern Europe's debts to the Islamic world and help us better understand the interrelationships of cultures over time.


Majolica Mania

Majolica Mania

Author: Susan Weber

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2021-01-12

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 0300251041

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The first comprehensive study of the most important ceramic innovation of the 19th century Colorful, wildly imaginative, and technically innovative, majolica was functional and aesthetic ceramic ware. Its subject matter reflects a range of 19th-century preoccupations, from botany and zoology to popular humor and the macabre. Majolica Mania examines the medium’s considerable impact, from wares used in domestic settings to monumental pieces at the World’s Fairs. Essays by international experts address the extensive output of the originators and manufacturers in England—including Minton, Wedgwood, and George Jones—and the migration of English craftsmen to the U.S. New research including information on important American makers in New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia is also featured. Fully illustrated, the book is enlivened by new photography of pieces from major museums and private collections in the U.S. and Great Britain.


Art and Love in Renaissance Italy

Art and Love in Renaissance Italy

Author: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)

Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 394

ISBN-13: 1588393003

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"Many famous artworks of the Italian Renaissance were made to celebrate love, marriage, and family. They were the pinnacles of a tradition, dating from early in the era, of commemorating betrothals, marriages, and the birth of children by commissioning extraordinary objects - maiolica, glassware, jewels, textiles, paintings - that were often also exchanged as gifts. This volume is the first comprehensive survey of artworks arising from Renaissance rituals of love and marriage and makes a major contribution to our understanding of Renaissance art in its broader cultural context. The impressive range of works gathered in these pages extends from birth trays painted in the early fifteenth century to large canvases on mythological themes that Titian painted in the mid-1500s. Each work of art would have been recognized by contemporary viewers for its prescribed function within the private, domestic domain."--BOOK JACKET.


Italian Ceramics

Italian Ceramics

Author: Catherine Hess

Publisher: Getty Publications

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13:

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Annotation Contains scientific, historical, and iconographic information about the Getty Museum's superb collection of Italian ceramic art.


Marvels of Maiolica

Marvels of Maiolica

Author: Jacqueline Marie Musacchio

Publisher: Bunker Hill Publishing, Inc.

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 74

ISBN-13: 9781593730369

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Explores the rich history and ornate styles of these beautiful wares as well as the key role they played in Renasisance society.


Della Robbia

Della Robbia

Author: Marietta Cambareri

Publisher: Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780878468416

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The glazed terracotta technique invented by Luca della Robbia, along with his exceptional skill as a sculptor, placed him firmly in the first rank of Renaissance artists in the fifteenth century. This quintessentially Florentine art - taking the form of dazzling multicoloured ornaments for major buildings, delicately modelled and ingeniously constructed freestanding statues, serene blue-and-white devotional reliefs, charming portraits of children, and commanding busts of rulers, along with decorative and liturgical objects - flowed in abundance from the Della Robbia workshops for a hundred years. Developed further by each generation, the closely held technique achieved new heights of refinement and durability in modelling and colour, combining elements of painting and sculpture into a new and all but eternal medium. In the 19th century, revived interest in the Renaissance and in the Della Robbia brought their works into major collections beyond Italy, particularly in England and the United States. Recently, renewed attention from art historians, backed by sophisticated technical studies, has reintegrated the Della Robbia into the mainstream of Renaissance art history and illuminated their originality and accomplishments. This beautifully illustrated book invites readers to experience one of the great inventions of the Renaissance and the enduring beauty it captured.