Plate with Putto, Masques, and Trophies
Unknown Artist
c. 1530–50
Medium
tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)
Dimensions
5.6 × 25.7 cm
Classification
Ceramic
Department
Decorative Art and Design
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of M. & R. Stora
Accession Number
1923.1088
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
During the Italian Renaissance of the 1400s and 1500s, nobles and merchants eager to express their wealth and sophistication ordered ceramics for dining, display, and storage. Known as maiolica, because it resembled the brightly colored ceramics from the Mediterranean island of Majorca, these ceramic vessels were covered with a tin glaze that provided an opaque white surface on which colorful decoration and coats of arms as well as mythological or literary stories could be painted.