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wWednesday, April 28, 2004


April 9
Collection of Italian ceramics starts six city tour
By MELISSA MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (AP) _ It's hard to imagine eating dinner off of a work of art.

But during the Italian Renaissance, artists started painting ceramic plates, plaques and jars that were colorful, detailed, beautiful _ and functional.

A large collection of these works, called maiolica, started a six city tour Friday at Vassar College's Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, giving visitors a glimpse into 16th century upper and middle class life.

"Very few maiolica wares are so outlandish that we cannot conceive of their use," said Jacqueline Musacchio, assistant professor of art history at the college. Most maiolica, tin-glazed, clay-based wares that go through three firings in a kiln, have shiny surfaces that lack visible wear. Since cutlery was only used in ceremonies, hands and bread couldn't leave such marks.

Musacchio said the more intricate plates were often used as serving dishes at slightly fancier special occasions than when hosts pull out today's "good china."

While middle class homes had simpler, white glazed maiolica plates, the wealthy held collections of the bright orange, blue and purple pieces. Muscular figures portrayed in stories of mythology or classical history stand, stuck in time on these plates. Because of the painting process, where the paint is baked into the clay, the colors are as rich today as they were in the Renaissance.

The "Marvels of Maiolica" exhibit also features five apothecary jars, used in pharmacies for holding dry ingredients. The golden yellow and dark blue inscriptions and scenes on the jars do not indicate what could be found inside _ instead the names of herbs and drugs were attached to the parchment lids.

A photograph hung near Francesco Xanto Avelli da Rovigo's Plate with The Sinking of the Fleet of Seleucus, shows that Xanto signed, dated and inscribed his work, an elaborate piece that depicts a scene from the third century History of the World.

Documentation surrounding these ceramics come from a manuscript called "The Three Books of the Potter's Art," by Cipriano Poccolpasso. Some pieces in the collection at Vassar, 65 miles north of New York City, were part of larger sets. The Moor's head at the top of Xanto's Seleucus identifies it as one of 37 commissioned by the Pucci family of Florence.

Not all the works on loan from the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., have serious religious scenes or deeds of famous families.

A gold and blue dish from Deruta, circa 1520-25, depicts a donkey attacking a wolf, with the inscription "See, people, to what the world has come when the ass, if he wants to, can eat the wolf." In the gallery caption, Musacchio wrote, that the piece promised a "lively banquet with few conversational lulls."

To complement the maiolica, Patricia Phagan, curator of prints and drawings, created an exhibit from the permanent collection at Vassar to explore Renaissance printmaking. The black and white engraved prints and woodblock show scenes similar to those on the maiolica.

"Maiolica designers worked a lot from prints," said James Mundy, director at the center. The prints will not travel with the maiolica exhibition.

The maiolica will continue to be displayed through June 13. The collection will then be moved to St. Petersburg, Fla., Pittsburgh, Pa., Grand Rapids, Mich., St. Peter, Minn., and Cincinnati, Ohio.

___
The exhibit schedule:
April 9, 2004 _ June 13, 2004, Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Sept. 25, 2004 _ Jan. 2, 2005, Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Fla.
Jan. 22, 2005 _ April 3, 2005, Frick Art & Historical Center, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Sept. 22, 2005 _ Jan. 1, 2006, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Feb. 6, 2006 _ March 19, 2006, Hillstrom Museum of Art, Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minn.
April 7, 2006 _ June 18, 2006, Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio.

posted by Melissa at 8:18 AM