Museums Home BMAGiC Home Search Browse BMAGiC Help About BMAGiC Contact Us
           

Dish - Mount Parnassus

View main imageView larger image
© Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery

Additional Images

Click on each image below to view at full size:

Basic Information

Accession Number:1886M77
Collection:Applied Art - Pottery
Date:1600 c - 1600 c

Maker Information

After:Marc Antonio Raimondo - View biography for Marc Antonio Raimondo

Notes

The material used to make this dish is known in Italy as maiolica. It is earthenware with a thick, opaque white surface called tin glaze. Maiolica was one of the first ceramics to be used specifically as a vehicle for painted decoration, either in lustre or in painted enamels.As a branch of pottery manufacture, maiolica was established in the northern half of Italy by the mid-15th century when the pots were often decorated with bold patterns in green and purple. As the industry developed throughout Italy, characteristic shapes emerged, amongst them large ornamental dishes such as this one. It is painted with a scene of the god Apollo and the Muses - the goddesses of creative inspiration in the classical world. The scene is copied from the artist Raphael's famous wall paintings in the Vatican in Rome.

Purchased, 1886.

Further Information

Production Period:17th Century
School/Style:Maiolica
Medium:Maiolica, tin glazed and painted earthenware.
Material(s):Glaze
Place of Origin:Urbino, Italy