An Examination of Renaissance Maiolica

To celebrate the NCECA (National Council on Education in the Ceramic Arts) meeting in Philadelphia, the department of European Arts is preparing a new display of Italian Renaissance majolica (tin-enamelled earthenware) from the permanent collection. The pieces will be shown in two adjacent galleries devoted to European decorative arts on the second floor of the Museum. A group of 16th-century works in the istoriato style in which pieces are decorated with complex multi-figured compositions will be on view. Also included are works by major masters Nicoló da Urbino and Francesco Xanto Avelli da Rovigo. The second part of the exhibition will center on two of the Museum's spectacular works by the Fontana family of Urbino. This display is on view to acquaint visitors with research methods currently being used by specialists of Renaissance ceramics.