Le maioliche rinascimentali nelle collezioni della ... - Claudio Paolinelli

136 Plate with a putto riding a griffin.
Duchy of Urbino, c1525.
In the centre of the plate is a roundel with a winged putto
riding a griffin, which faces stylized grass-covered rocks. The
figures stand out against a deep blue ground. A broad white
band with symbols arranged around it on the sides of the well
separates the central scene from the broad rim, which has
trophies with cornucopias alternating with flowering scrolls.
The reverse is decorated in blue, divided into six by radiating
wavy lines with crossed bulb motifs between them. In the
centre is a cross formed of multiple parallel lines. The colours
are blue, green, yellow, and orange-brown.
This is an exceptional object in its decoration and in the band
of graphic symbols, to which no parallel has been found from
the known production centres. It was probably made in one
of the lesser-known pottery-producing towns in Le Marche 1 .
The attribution made by von Falke 2 to Castel Durante 3 , or at
least to the Duchy of Urbino, has recently been re-proposed 4 .
Nonetheless it is important to realise that this exceptional plate
has a direct relationship to a number of objects with the same
decorative language, especially in the arrangement of the
border decoration divided into eight sections in fourfold symmetry.
Comparison may be made with a plate in the Victoria
& Albert Museum, London 5 , and with one in the Civic Museums
of Pesaro 6 . Both arrange the rim in a way that has
similarities, incorporating into eight sections cornucopias and
plant motifs in alternation. Specifically, the corpulent blond
putti that stand out against the deep blue of the ground in the
centre of the plate in Pesaro offer further points of comparison.
It seems that the mixture of cultural elements which
influenced the taste of some potters from the River Metauro
region in the first quarter of the sixteenth century 7 was in
some degree adopted by Umbrian culture, mediated by the
experience of Gubbio 8 ; the outcome was large Deruta display
plates in which “the rim is broad and flanged at the edge and
its decoration is independent of the centre, for which it in a
certain sense provides a frame” 9 . The central decoration with
the winged putto riding a griffin has hitherto been associated
with allegorical representations in medieval bestiaries 10 or alternatively,
in a challenging reading, as a personification of a
particular person such as the Duke of Urbino himself 11 . Sometimes,
however, this sort of subject is simply ornamental, bringing
together monstrous creatures like hippocamps, dragons or
wild beasts, with playing children 12 .
To emphasize the central roundel, the sides of the well have
a series of graphic symbols which give the plate a quality of
mystery and have given rise to several attempts at interpretation
13 . Although a recent study attempts to link these signs
with Duke Francesco Maria I Della Rovere 14 , a more likely
interpretation would seem to be to read them as a composition
in Hebrew characters. Dr Ennio Napolitano of the “Orientale”
University of Naples has succeeded in providing a plausible
interpretation as follows:
“On the plate are twenty-four letters of the Hebrew alphabet
repeated as follows:
eight alef (!), eight lamed (-), six dalet (9), and two samekh
(2).
If we consider each letter in relation to the one opposite it we
have four groups of six letters arranged mirror fashion. These
four groups in reality form four stars of David as follows (the
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