The history of the development, perfection, and decline of the ceramic
art of the renaissance in Italy is so intimately connected with and
centred round that of the dukedom of Urbino, that in tracing its
progress we must also briefly call to memory the fortunes and the
failures of that noble house.
In 1443 what had been but an unimportant mountain fief was erected into
a duchy, and the house of Montefeltro ruled a fair territory in the
person of the infamous Oddantonio, the first duke of Urbino. On his
violent death in 1444 Federigo, his illegitimate brother, succeeded to
the dukedom. Of enlightened mind, as well as of martial capacity, he
developed the native capabilities of the country and gathered about him
at the court of Urbino the science and learning of the period. He built
a noble castellated palace at Urbino, for the embellishment of which he
invited the leading artists of the day. A patron of all art, and a great
collector, he encouraged the manufacture of the maiolica wares which
flourished under his reign. On his death in 1482 his son Guidobaldo I.
continued his father’s patronage to the ceramic artists of the duchy,
although much occupied in the Italian wars consequent on the French
invasion by Charles VIII. Passeri states that fine maiolica (by which he
means that covered with the tin enamel) was introduced into Pesaro in
1500; and there is some reason to believe that the new process came from
Tuscany. It differed materially in composition and manufacture from the
“mezza majolica” wares to which it was very superior, and was known as
“Porcellana,” a name applied at that period in Italy to the choicer
description of enamelled earthenware. Passeri also states that in the
inventory of the ducal palaces a large quantity of painted “majolica”
vases were included under this name. The superior whiteness of the
enamel, more nearly approaching to that of oriental porcelain, was
probably the reason for its adoption; but we must not confound the term
as used in this sense with its technical meaning in reference to a
decorative design known as “a porcellana.”
The introduction of the new enamel, which afforded a better ground for
painting, did not cause the use of the bright metallic colours and
prismatic glaze to be relinquished at those potteries where it had
become established, but it appears to have stimulated a development in
the artistic productions of other places, the wares of which before that
period were less attractive. The botega of Maestro Giorgio at Gubbio
seems to have been at this time the great centre of the process of
embellishment with the golden and ruby metallic lustres; and, indeed, we
have little or no knowledge of artistic pottery produced at that
fabrique which is not so enriched. From some technicality in the process
of the manufacture, some local advantage, or some secret in the
composition, almost a monopoly of its use was established at Gubbio, for
we have the evidence of well-known examples that from the end of the
first to the commencement of the last quarter of the 15th century many
pieces painted by the artists of Pesaro, Urbino, and Castel Durante,
were sent there to receive the additional enrichment of the lustre
colours. Pieces may be seen in collections signed in blue by the artist
Francesco Xanto and others which have been subsequently lustred at
Gubbio, and again signed in the metallic pigment by the “maestro” of
that botega. At Diruta also its use appears to have been extensive
though not to so exclusive a degree nor on wares of such high character
as at Gubbio, neither are we enabled by the possession of examples to
conclude that the works or other fabriques were sent to Diruta for the
additional embellishment.
The crude drawing of the earlier ware improved very slowly; in 1502
tiles executed for the palace at Pesaro were still of sorry design; but
it developed by the introduction of half tints, the colouring of the
drapery, and in the composition of the groups of figures, inspired by
the works of Timoteo della Vite and other artists of the Umbrian school.
At Pesaro the art appears to have attained its highest perfection at the
botega of the Lanfranco family, about 1540-45.
The establishment of the ducal Court at Urbino naturally drew more
favour to the potteries of that city, and of its near neighbour Castel
Durante. The latter of these appears also to have been a seat of this
industry from very remote times, and not only to have furnished large
quantities of glazed earthenware but also artistic works of the highest
merit. Castel Durante not only produced fine wares at home but artists
of great ability emigrated from her, establishing themselves at various
places. Hence originally came the Fontana family, the most important
producers of the higher class of decorative pottery at Urbino. At Venice
Francesco Pieragnolo in 1545, accompanied by his father Gian-Antonio da
Pesaro, formed a botega; but his wares are not among the earliest dated
pieces made in that city, where we know that Mº Ludovico was producing
admirable works five years previously, and Mº Jacomo da Pesaro in 1542.
A member of the Fontana family, Camillo, younger brother of the
celebrated Orazio, went to Florence, and another Mº Camillo to Ferrara
in 1567, by the request of the then reigning duke, Alfonso II.; in 1600
we find that Maestro Diomede Durante had a pottery at Rome, producing
pieces painted by Gio. Paulo Savino, in the style of the Urbino
grotesques on white ground, which had been brought to such perfection by
the Fontana family. Another artist of this family, Guido di Savino, is
stated to have previously established himself at Antwerp.
[Illustration]
At Urbino and Gubbio the shaped pieces, the vases, cisterns, &c. were of
large size admirably modelled, as, for instance, the fine vase at South
Kensington, no. 515, in the woodcut; they were also richly “istoriata”
with subjects from sacred and profane history, poetry, &c.: the produce
of the celebrated Fontana botega being, perhaps, the most important of
them. Here also worked the able artist Francesco Xanto, from 1530 to
1541 (latterly in the pottery of Francesco Silvano), so many of whose
painted pieces were subsequently decorated with ruby and gold lustre at
Gubbio.
From 1520 to 1540 the art constantly advanced in this duchy, and had
retained great perfection till 1560. It is probable that the potteries
at Castel Durante were of earlier foundation than those at Urbino and,
from their first establishment to the decadence of the art were some of
the most important and productive furnaces of the duchy. Here several
boteghe existed, one of which was under the direction of the cavaliere
Cipriano Piccolpasso who, himself an artist and a professor of medicine,
was doubtless well advanced in the chemical knowledge of his day. He
worked about 1550, and has left the important and interesting
manuscript, entitled “Li tre libri dell’ arte dell’ Vasajo,” now in the
library of the South Kensington museum. This manuscript was printed and
published at Rome in 1857, and a translation in French at Paris in 1841,
both editions with engraved copies of the numerous designs.
Guidobaldo I. was succeeded in the dukedom by his nephew Francesco Maria
Della Rovere, in 1508, who, incurring the resentment of pope Leo the
tenth, was obliged to retire into Lombardy but was reinstated in 1517.
Rome was sacked in 1527, and history accuses Guidobaldo of having
permitted the horrible act without interfering to prevent it. He died
from poison in 1538 at Pesaro, whither he had retired after a reverseful
life and reign. His duchess was the excellent Leonora Gonzaga. She built
a palace near Pesaro, known as the “Imperiale,” richly decorated by able
artists among whom was Raffaelle dal Colle, whose designs were also
adopted for the maiolica ware. The frequently repeated error of
ascribing the actual painting, as also the making designs for this ware,
to the great Raffaelle Sanzio may probably have arisen from the
similarity in the Christian names of these artists.
The development of the manufacture in the duchy of Urbino may be
considered to have attained its culminating point about 1540, after
which, for some twenty years, it continued in great excellence not only
as regards the “istoriati,” but more particularly in the shaped pieces
and dishes (of which we engrave an example p. 40) decorated with the
so-called “Urbino arabesques” on a clear white ground; the subjects
painted in medallions, surrounded by grotesques of admirable invention
and execution, after the style known as “Raffaellesque.” But excellent
and highly decorative as are the finer products of this period from the
furnaces of the Fontana of Urbino, or of the Lanfranchi of
[Illustration]
Pesaro, they want to the eye of the true connoisseur the sentiment and
expressive drawing, the exquisite finish and delicacy, the rich colour,
and the admirable design of the earlier works produced at the Casa
Pirota in Faenza, at Forlì, Castel Durante, Siena, and Caffaggiolo, in
the latter years of the fifteenth and the first quarter of the sixteenth
centuries, and by Mº Giorgio at Gubbio, many of which rival in beauty
the exquisite miniature illuminations of that palmy period of Italian
art. The service in the Correr museum in Venice, supposed to have been
painted by an unknown artist of Faenza and dated 1482, is of high
quality;
[Illustration]
and we possess at South Kensington works by his hand, particularly a
plaque or tile (No. 69) on which is a representation of the Resurrection
of our Lord, worthy of being ranked with the highest productions of
pictorial art. The borders of grotesques on the plates of this earlier
period differ greatly from those of the Urbino factories of the middle
time, being generally grounded on dark blue or yellow, and executed with
great delicacy of touch and power of colouring; the centres of the
smaller pieces are usually occupied by single figures, small medallion
subjects, portrait heads, amorini, shields-of-arms, &c.; frequently they
were intended for “amatorii” or love tokens. Some of the most careful
and highly finished productions of Mº Giorgio are of this early time,
before he was in the habit of signing with the well-known initials Mº
Gº; the earliest so signed being the admirable St. Francis tazza at
South Kensington, dated 1517.
We may therefore affirm that the choicest works in Italian pottery were
produced during a period which extended from 1480 to 1520 or 1530;
thence till 1560 was its meridian, although some fine works were
produced at Urbino by the Fontana till 1570; before that time the ruby
lustre had been lost, and soon after a rapid decline of design and
execution reduces all to painful inferiority. The woodcut (p. 41) is
from a splendid dish, dated 1533, no. 1748, at South Kensington.
Guidobaldo II., who had succeeded to Francesco Maria in 1538, wanted the
force of character and nice appreciation of the higher literature and
art which had distinguished his father; but he was a great patron of the
ceramic productions of his duchy, and sought to improve the designs used
by painters on pottery by the introduction of subjects of higher
character and composition. With this view, lavish of expense, he bought
original drawings by Raffaelle and the engravings of Marc Antonio from
that master’s designs. He also made presents of services to contemporary
princes and friends. One, given to the emperor Charles V., a double
service, is mentioned by Vasari, the vases of which had been painted
from the designs of Battista Franco, a Venetian, whom he had invited to
Urbino. Another service of which pieces are extant was given by the duke
to Andrea da Volterra, his confessor. For the Spezieria or medical
dispensary, attached to his own palace, he ordered a complete set of
vases and drug pots; designs were prepared for these by B. Franco and
Raffaelle dal Colle and executed at the botega of Orazio Fontana, by
whom some of the pieces were painted. They were subsequently presented
by duke Francesco Maria II. to the Santa Casa at Loreto, where the
greater part of them are still preserved. Some of them were engraved by
Bartoli. The story tells us that so highly were they esteemed by
Christina of Sweden that she offered to buy them for their weight of
gold, after a grand duke of Florence had more prudently proposed an
equal number of silver vessels of like weight.
Orazio Fontana, the great artist potter and painter of Urbino, worked
for the duke from 1540 to 1560 and carried the art to the highest
perfection. Passeri states that Orazio had no equal in the execution of
his paintings, the distribution of his colours, and in the calculation
of the effect of the fire upon them in the production of his wares. He
also quotes various contemporary authors who speak of the excellence of
the maiolica of this period. After the death of Orazio Fontana and
Battista Franco works of an inferior class only were produced from the
designs of the Flemish engravers. From 1580 the decline of the art was
rapid. It met but small encouragement from duke Francesco Maria II., who
succeeded in 1574, except during his residence at Castel Durante where
it still, though feebly, survived. He abdicated in favour of the Holy
See, and died in 1631. The rich collections of art then remaining at
Urbino became the property of Ferdinand de’ Medici, who had married the
duke’s granddaughter, and were removed to Florence.
Artistic manufactories had, in addition to those of the Umbrian duchy,
greatly increased in various parts of Italy under the encouragement of
powerful local families; but none appear to have attained to higher
excellence than those of Tuscany. At Caffaggiolo under the powerful
patronage of the Medici, and at Siena, some of the most excellent pieces
of this beautiful pottery were produced, rivalling but not surpassing
the fine examples of Faenza.
The Tuscan pieces are remarkable for their rich enamel, for the force
and brilliancy of the colours, and for the execution and design of the
grotesque borders and other decoration; a deep rich blue, a peculiar
opaque but bright red, and a brilliant yellow, are characteristic
pigments. The existence of the former fabrique has been made known to us
only by the inscription of the name on some few pieces preserved in
cabinets. From their style and the mark accompanying the inscription we
are enabled to detect many examples, some of which bear concurrent
testimony in the subjects connected with the history of the Medici
family with
[Illustration]
which they are painted. The well-known plate (in the woodcut) on which a
painter is represented engaged in executing the portraits of a noble
personage and his lady, who are seated near, and which were supposed to
be intended for Raffaelle and the Fornarina, is a fine specimen of the
work of perhaps the most able artist engaged at this pottery. This
beautiful example is now in the South Kensington museum, acquired from
the Bernal collection.
At Siena also admirable works were produced but we are disposed to think
that their inspiration was derived from Caffaggiolo, whence also her
potters probably received instruction in the application of the
stanniferous enamel. Some pieces of the latter end of the fifteenth
century are with probability ascribed to Siena, and dated pieces as
early as 1501. Tiles also from the same fabrique are remarkable for the
excellence of their grotesque borders on an orange yellow ground, having
centres painted with great delicacy: some unusual examples having a
black ground to their decorative borders.
Rome and the south of Italy do not appear to have produced meritorious
works in this field, during the period of its greatest excellence in the
northern and Tuscan states; and it is not till the dispersion of the
artists, consequent upon the absorption of the Umbrian duchy into the
Pontifical states, that we find a Durantine establishing a pottery at
Rome, and producing in 1600 an inferior repetition of the grotesque
style so admirable in the hands of the Fontana, half a century earlier
at Urbino. The decadence was rapid; an increased number of inferior
potteries produced wares of a lower price and quality; the fall of the
ducal houses which had so greatly encouraged its higher excellence as a
branch of fine art, together with the general deterioration in artistic
taste, alike tended to its end.