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

137 Plate with Samson and trofei decoration.
Pesaro or Urbino (workshop of Guido di Merlino), c1540.
The plate is distinguished by an unusual decoration of trophies,
on both the sides of the well and on the rim, in the first
case over an elaborate decoration bianco sopra bianco (white on
white) and in the second on a dark blue ground. The manly
figure in the centre, rising to dominate the space, is probably
to be identified as Samson. The muscular figure, beardless,
with long flowing hair, wears a cloak and brandishes in his
hand the jawbone of an ass. The painter has shown him standing,
leaning his left hand on a thin spear. The colours are blue,
green, brown, orange, yellow, and white. The outer edge is
painted yellow.
The jawbone of an ass with which, according to the Bible,
Samson vanquished the Philistines, is, as often happens, simplified
into the form of a sort of curved stick 1 . The Biblical figure
is chosen as a symbol of virility but also as an emblem of
masculine strength overcome by feminine charm and by passion.
The entire decoration is on the theme of love. The
evident unreciprocated love of the man presumed to have
commissioned the plate 2 is explicitly referred to in two cartouches
with the words aime tu me fai batista(?) bella morire [la]
spera[n]za (alas you make my hopes die, beautiful Battista?) ;
and camila diva mia be lla aime ti amo (my divine beautiful
Camilla, alas I love you) 3 .
The trophy decoration around the broad rim, alongside the
normal military elements like shields and arms, has some unusual
features, fruits of the imagination of a talented painter: a
peacock with the face of a woman 4 ; a pomegranate and a
pumpkin with a human mask issuing from it. These details can
be interpreted as explicit references to the beloved woman or
as symbolizing prosperity or fertility.
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The trophies and emblems of love are painted in grisaille, with
thin tones of pale brown, and decorated with little scrolls
scratched through the blue ground to the white beneath 5 . This
type of the ornament known as trofei is traditionally attributed
to Castel Durante 6 , but recent studies 7 and finds have shown
evidence too for production in Pesaro 9 . In the present state of
knowledge, it is not possible to attribute maiolica with trofei to
a single specific centre in the Duchy of Urbino, where it was
“in use everywhere” 10 . On the basis of dated objects we may
conclude that this particular version of the decoration did not
extend beyond the middle of the sixteenth century 11 .
The figure of Samson finds an iconographic parallel in a plate
in the Museo Civico, Pesaro, attributed to the workshop of
Girolamo di Lanfranco 12 . The style of the anatomy, however,
is reminiscent of the hand of an as-yet unidentified painter
who worked in the circle of Guido di Merlino and close to the
style of the “painter of the Orpheus basin” 13 . However, other
parallels may be made with maiolica more vaguely attributed
to Urbino 14 . It may be that the grisaille trophies on the border
will in future provide a principal element in a more definite
attribution. [CP]
Plate with shallow well and small foot ring. Tin-glazed front and back.
Diam: 37.2 cm.
Broken and mended with minor repainting. Chipping to the edge.
There is blue spotting on the back.
Provenance: Cesare Ugolini; Fabrizio Frizzi Baccioni.
Bibliography: A. Bettini in Dal Poggetto 2004, no. XII.74.