Dish (coppa amatoria)

Artist: probably the "In Castel Durante" Painter (Italian, active Castel Durante, first half of 16th century)

Date: ca. 1530

Culture: Italian, Castel Durante

Medium: Maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware)

Dimensions: Diameter: 8 7/16 in. (21.5 cm)

Classification: Ceramics-Pottery

Credit Line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975

Accession Number: 1975.1.1084

Description

The woman painted on this bella donna footed bowl, or coppa, is identified as "Beautiful Livia." She wears a silk velvet cap, or scufia, with a jewel at the center and a necklace of black cord, whose pendant is tucked into her bodice—fashionable attire of the period. It is one of a group of bowls celebrating women, including caterina bella, elisabetta bella, and aura bella, that seem to have been painted in Urbino or Castel Durante, and some of which were also lustered in Gubbio.

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