Unknown
Charger with Armorial Shield16th century

Not on view

Maiolica ceramic charger with cobalt blue, golden amber, and cream decoration; radiating rim panels surround a central heraldic shield with roundels and chevron stripes

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Charger with Armorial Shield
Place Made: Italy, Deruta
Date Made: 16th century
Medium: Tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)
Dimensions: Diameter: 17 3/8 in. (44.13 cm)
Credit Line: William Randolph Hearst Collection
Accession Number: 50.9.40
Classification: Furnishings
Collecting Area: Decorative Arts and Design
Curatorial Notes: This large display plate (piatto da pompa) is painted with the coat of arms of Francesco Armellini Pantalassi de’ Medici, a cardinal of the Catholic church who served as archbishop of Taranto in Southern Italy from 1525 to 1528. The plate’s surface is enriched with copper luster glaze, a specialty of maiolica potters in Deruta. Also characteristic of works produced at Deruta is the design of the plate’s wide border with alternating panels of scale pattern and leafy scrolls separated by narrow bands of fruit.

As an adopted son of Pope Leo X, Francesco rose in the ranks of the church hierarchy. He built an imposing palace for himself in Rome, the Palazzo Cesi-Armellini, which still stands today near Saint Peter’s Basilica. Francesco ultimately became treasurer of the church under a later Medici pope, Clement VII. Such an imposing plate may have been displayed at the palazzo or it could have been presented to Francesco as a diplomatic gift, although the heraldic decoration makes no reference to his elevated rank as a cardinal.
Selected Bibliography: Keith, D. Graeme. The Triumph of Humanism: a Visual Survey of the Decorative Arts of the Renaissance. San Francisco: The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1977.

Unknown
Charger with Armorial Shield16th century

Not on view

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Charger with Armorial Shield
Place Made: Italy, Deruta
Date Made: 16th century
Medium: Tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)
Dimensions: Diameter: 17 3/8 in. (44.13 cm)
Credit Line: William Randolph Hearst Collection
Accession Number: 50.9.40
Classification: Furnishings
Collecting Area: Decorative Arts and Design
Curatorial Notes: This large display plate (piatto da pompa) is painted with the coat of arms of Francesco Armellini Pantalassi de’ Medici, a cardinal of the Catholic church who served as archbishop of Taranto in Southern Italy from 1525 to 1528. The plate’s surface is enriched with copper luster glaze, a specialty of maiolica potters in Deruta. Also characteristic of works produced at Deruta is the design of the plate’s wide border with alternating panels of scale pattern and leafy scrolls separated by narrow bands of fruit.

As an adopted son of Pope Leo X, Francesco rose in the ranks of the church hierarchy. He built an imposing palace for himself in Rome, the Palazzo Cesi-Armellini, which still stands today near Saint Peter’s Basilica. Francesco ultimately became treasurer of the church under a later Medici pope, Clement VII. Such an imposing plate may have been displayed at the palazzo or it could have been presented to Francesco as a diplomatic gift, although the heraldic decoration makes no reference to his elevated rank as a cardinal.
Selected Bibliography: Keith, D. Graeme. The Triumph of Humanism: a Visual Survey of the Decorative Arts of the Renaissance. San Francisco: The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1977.