Urbino

With the exception of Faenza, Urbino is the town most commonly associated with Italian Renaissance maiolica, mainly because of its role in the development of the celebrated pictorial narrative style known as istoriato.

Maiolica production in the Marches dates from at least the early medieval period. The region was ideally situated to become an important center, not only from a geological standpoint – the area along the Metauro River abounded in the necessary raw materials – but also politically, as home to the powerful Montefeltro-Della Rovere families. The Duchy of Urbino represented an authoritative and economic force on a par with the governments of Tuscany, Lombardy and Naples.

The role of state sponsorship in the evolution of maiolica in the areas controlled by the Medici is well-documented. Official patronage played an important part in the development of Urbino, and was responsible to a great extent for the growth and dominance of Castel Durante as a center in the late Middle Ages/early Renaissance.

Urbino itself did not rise to prominence until the 16^th century when the town saw an influx of talent in the person known as Nicolò da Urbino, the master considered by many to be the greatest maiolica painter of the Renaissance.

Much confusion exists over the identity of this individual; recent evidence appears to disprove the long-held notion that the artist was actually Nicola Pellipario, the father of the master Guido Durantino, who emigrated from Castel Durante in 1528.

Durantino and Pellipario, who worked in his son’s studio during the 1520’s, were influenced by the Faentine master Zoan Maria, and their subjects, like those of Nicolò da Urbino, show the distinct influence of the school of Raphael, drawing from Classical antiquity and grotesques. The interpretive ability and sense of proportion and color that distinguished these wares influenced generations of artisans in Urbino and set the high standard for which wares from this town are renowned.

In addition to the istoriato style, Urbino was famous for a superlative a raffaellesche ornament which not only highlighted the creativity and versatility of the town’s painters, but also the inventiveness and proficiency of her potters. While the istoriato style required that the ceramic object be completely subordinated by the painted decoration, a raffaellesche motifs were well-suited to complex shapes.

Around 1550, the workshop of the Pellipario/Durantino family, now known as Fontana, developed the new style of painted decoration based on grotesques set on a white ground that sparked renewed interest in sculptural ceramics. Urbino studios produced a vast array of elaborate wares decorated in the a raffaellesche style through the end of the 16^th century.

In addition to Nicolò da Urbino, and(or) Pellipario and the members of his family who worked under the name Fontana, celebrated masters from Urbino include Antonio Patanazzi and the prolific Francesco Xanto Avelli da Rovigo.

Attribution of Urbino wares is especially complicated, despite (or perhaps because of) the great amount of study they have inspired. In the case of Xanto, a large number of extant signed pieces have survived, making designation to the large workshop run by this artisan and his assistants relatively simple. Other wares, including the important services created for the Ridolfi-Medici (the Correr service c.1517-20) and for Isabella d’Este Gonzaga and her son (c.1525-35), are now ascribed to the elusive Nicolò da Urbino, though stylistic discrepancies and other questions persist.