Maiolica pharmacy jar painted with a dove and grotesques

An image of Maiolica two-handled pharmacy jar painted with a dove holding an olive branch above the inscription `S + domine + f + An', surrounded by grotesques. Unknown Maker. Buff earthenware, tin-glazed greyish-blue on the exterior and interior of the neck and shoulders; the glaze has crawled, particularly on the handles. Painted in blue, green, yellow, and orange. Height, whole, 32.5 cm, diameter, rim, 13.2 cm, diameter, base, 15.5 cm, width, whole, 34.2 cm, dated 1541. Renaissance. Production Notes: This jar is one of a set made for the pharmacy of the Ospedale Maggiore or Ca Grande at Milan. The emblem, a dove bearing an olive branch in its beak with the motto `AVE GRATIA PLENA', was given to the hospital by Francesco Sforza when he and his wife founded it in 1456. The dove was a Sforza impresa, and the motto was added because he wished to place the hospital under the protection of the Virgin to commemorate his entry into Milan on 25 March 1450. The two-handled form of these jars suggests a Tuscan origin, but pale blue or greyish-blue glaze is not a feature normally associated with Cafaggiolo, Siena or Montelupo. The present attribution to Tuscany is therefore open to question.

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Maiolica two-handled pharmacy jar painted with a dove holding an olive branch above the inscription `S + domine + f + An', surrounded by grotesques. Unknown Maker. Buff earthenware, tin-glazed greyish-blue on the exterior and interior of the neck and shoulders; the glaze has crawled, particularly on the handles. Painted in blue, green, yellow, and orange. Height, whole, 32.5 cm, diameter, rim, 13.2 cm, diameter, base, 15.5 cm, width, whole, 34.2 cm, dated 1541. Renaissance. Production Notes: This jar is one of a set made for the pharmacy of the Ospedale Maggiore or Ca Grande at Milan. The emblem, a dove bearing an olive branch in its beak with the motto `AVE GRATIA PLENA', was given to the hospital by Francesco Sforza when he and his wife founded it in 1456. The dove was a Sforza impresa, and the motto was added because he wished to place the hospital under the protection of the Virgin to commemorate his entry into Milan on 25 March 1450. The two-handled form of these jars suggests a Tuscan origin, but pale blue or greyish-blue glaze is not a feature normally associated with Cafaggiolo, Siena or Montelupo. The present attribution to Tuscany is therefore open to question.

Image data

Accession Number: C.46-1927
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Aperture: f/13.0
Focal length: 120
Camera: Hasselblad H4D-31
Photographer name: Amy Jugg
Image height: 845 pixels
Image width: 1024 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.4 (Windows)
Filesize: 147.72kB
Exposure time: 1/60
ISO Speed: 100
Fnumber: 13/1
Captured: 2013:07:11 14:31:26

Key words

16th Century birds blue container doves earthenware Fitz_AA glazed grotesque handled inscriptions Italian jar Late Renaissance maiolica motto olive branch olives orange pharmacy jar Renaissance tin-glazed vessel

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            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024)
            "Maiolica pharmacy jar painted with a dove and grotesques"
            Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/image/media-205665 Accessed: 2024-07-20 00:33:09

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            |title=Maiolica pharmacy jar painted with a dove and grotesques
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            University of Cambridge}}

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