Milica Križanac
M.A. in Archaeology, Museum of Applied Art, Belgrade
ITALIJANSKA MAJOLIKA XVI VEKA IZ KOLEKCIJE MUZEJA PRIMENJENE UMETNOSTI U BEOGRADU
ITALIAN XVI CENTURY MAJOLICA FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE MUSEUM OF APPLIED ART
Journal 2/2006 (Museum of Applied Art), pages 21-29
UDC:
069.51:738.23](497.11)
Abstract (original language):
Renesansna majolika koja se sastoji od tanjira i podnih pločica, deo kolekcije italijanske majolike u Muzeju primenjene umetnosti u Beogradu, izdvaja se dekoracijom i koloritom karakterističnim za XVI vek, na osnovu kojih je analognom metodom bilo moguće preciznije odrediti proizvodne centre gde su predmeti izrađeni.
Key words: (original language)
majolika, renesansa, tanjiri, podne pločice, Deruta, Montelupo, Napulj
Summary:
Among the total of thirty majolica objects originating from Italian workshops now kept in the Museum of Applied Art in Belgrade, six date back to the 16th century. The Renaissance collection comprises bigger shallow and deep plates and floor tiles. The objects that are dated to the 16th century were donated to the Museum in the first decade after founding (1950) and made up the very beginnings of the above mentioned Collection.
From Deruta (Umbria), from the first decades of the 16th century, our Museum Collection keeps a plate (Fig. 1; Inv. No. 130; Ro=21cm, Rd=8.7 cm), decorated in the manner characteristic of this Centre. The upper surface shows the head of a Roman emperor in profile and the back shows a modified letter M.
The next centre which is the source of several plates from the Museum of Applied Art collection is Montelupo in Toscana. It was determined by the analogous method that they were made in the second half of the 16th century in Montelupo or, possibly, in Firenza and Faenza. The first of them, a deep plate on a high, hollow bottom (Fig. 2; Inv. No. 131; Ro=24 cm, Rd=11cm, H=5.5 cm) has an architectural motive in its middle– a house and a quartieri ornament along its rim that is filled with plant ornaments.
The second plate on a flat bottom (Fig. 3; Inv. No. 121; Ro=31 cm, Rd=15 cm) has on the inside an a rombi decoration painted in blue.
The third plate (Fig. 4; Inv. No. 120; Ro=31.5 cm, Rd=13 cm) has central medallion with a stylised plant (a lily?) and the rims decorating by interconnected ellipses filled with geometric ornaments.
Other examples, most similar to the tiles kept in the Museum of Applied Art, adorn the floors of church buildings in Naples and their production is attributed to the Naples workshops from the 15th and early 16th century. They are of elongated, hexagonal shape. Dimensions vary (Fig. 5, 6; Inv. No. 1809, Inv. No. 7634; Fig. 5: 19x9.5x1 cm, Fig. 6: 21x11x1.6 cm) but their shape and colours of their stylised plant ornaments are almost identical. Therefore, they may be parts of a single floor, or, perhaps, products of a single workshop.
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