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Lot 1709* - A186 Silver & Porcelain - Tuesday, 25. September 2018, 04.00 PM

IMPORTANT "COMPENDIARIO" MAIOLICA PLATE "LA STRAGE DEGLI INNOCENTI",

Castelli d'Abruzzo, attributed to the workshop of Orazio Pompei (1507-1589), c. 1561-1565.
Of depressed form with wide rim. Painted in blue, yellow and ochre yellow, heightened in copper green and brown. Decorated with the tragic Biblical account of the Massacre of the Innocents (Matthew 2: 16) before a townscape with viaduct, after the graphic model by Raimondi after a design by Raphael from 1509.
D 44 cm. Old, stabilised crack.

Provenance:
- Victor Sanson Collection (C. Ravanelli Guidotti, Bianco Extra Moenia, Faenza 1982, p. 316).
- European art market.
- Private collection of Prof. Giancarlo Bojani, former Director of the Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche in Faenza.
- Important private collection of an Italian aristocrat.

“Belle Arti” export license available.



Literature:
- C. Ravanelli Guidotti, Un "Bianco" Extra Moenia, in: Faenza, Bolletino del Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche in Faenza, 1982, Annata LXVIII, p.316, 317, pl. XCV.
- C. Fiocco-G. Gherardi, Un Piatto Compendiario nell'officina dell'"Orsini-Colonna", in: Castelli e la Maiolica Cinquecentesca Italiana, Atti del Convegno in Pescara 22/25 April 1989, p. 115, ill.1.
- M. Proterra (pub.), Frammenti ceramici abruzzesi. Donazione Marcattilii-Nardini Catalogo, 2007, p.149 ill. 14.
- C. Fiocco- G. Gherardi- G. Matricardi, La Collezione Matricardi. Capolavori Della Maiolica Castellana Dal Cinquecento al Terzo Fuoco, exhibition catalogue 2012, ill. p. 34.


This important and widely published plate of exceptional quality presents the tragic story of the infanticide of Bethlehem staged within a Mannerist stylistic vocabulary.

THE DESIGNS - RAFFAEL DA URBINO (1483-1520) AND MARCANTONIO RAIMONDI (1480-1534)
As a prominent design model for this scene, the artist employed the etching by Marcantonio Raimondi "La Strage degli Innocenti", based on a sketch by Raphael. The nine main figures of the etching, which nearly match the drawing by Raphael, can be found in the depiction on the maiolica plate. For Raimondi’s townscape, the Ponte Fabricio on Tiber Island in Rome was suggested, which can be recognised in slightly distorted form on the plate. Raffael’s design was also the model for other maiolica pieces from Urbino, such as in the Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum Braunschweig (Lessmann, Majolika, 1979, cat. 138), in the Bargello, Florence (G. Conti, Museo Nazionale di Firenze, 1971, no. 43) and in the Louvre, Paris (J. Giacomotti, Catalogue des Majoliques des Musées Nationaux,Paris 1974, no. 993).

ORAZIO POMPEI (1507-1589) AND THE COMPENDIARIO STYLE IN CASTELLI
The attribution to the workshop of Orazio Pompei in Castelli results from comparisons with some certified Pompei maiolica pieces: the early ceiling tiles of the Church of San Donato in Castelli (16th century), a tile "l'Annunziazione" from 1557 from Chieti (Abruzzo) and the drug-jar of the famous "Orsini-Colonna" typology (mid-16th century), which initiates the transition from the Istoriato style gradually towards the Compendiario style (white glazed ceramic with sketchy painting) . This new decorative style, originally introduced in Faenza (Bianchi di Faenza), probably started in Castelli during the period c. 1560/65, during which this remarkable plate also was formed. Cf. C. Fiocco-G. Gherardi, Atti del Convegno in Pescara, 1989, p. 115-117; Frammenti Ceramici Abruzzesi, 2007, p. 147; Fiocco-Gherardi, La Collezione Matricardi, 2012, p. 35.


CHF 60 000 / 80 000 | (€ 61 860 / 82 470)