Siena

Siena was home to one of the first ceramic industries in Italy. Although relatively few Sienese wares have survived, maiolica workshops are known to have been established there as early as the 13^th century, and for a time, the town’s workshops provided serious competition for the ateliers of better-known centers like Florence and Faenza.

The grotesques style was established early in Siena due to the influence of Pinturicchio, a Sienese native and one of the greatest proponents of the motifs derived from the Domus aurea grottoes (the rediscovery of which coincided with the painter’s years in Rome working for Pope Innocent VIII).

In Siena, Pinturicchio used grotesques and ancient architectural motifs as decorative ornament in his major fresco cycle for the Piccolomini Library (c.1502-08) in the town’s cathedral. The artisans responsible for the Library’s tile pavement were directly exposed to Pinturicchio’s designs, from which they are believed to have derived patterns used in maiolica production.

Siena is perhaps best known for the dry-drug jars and Petrucci Palace tiles (c.1509) painted with decorations that combines grotesque designs with elements of the Gothic-floral patterns of earlier Tuscan maiolica.

A strong local style is the hallmark of Siena’s maiolica production, but the influence of other centers is evident, especially in the early 16^th century when a number of accomplished craftsmen, including Maestro Benedetto, migrated there from Faenza.

Despite a strong native tradition and the influx of new talent, both of which lead to noteworthy achievements in the early part of the century, the manufacture of maiolica in Siena declined significantly after 1550.