Over 200 masterpieces, some of which are exhibited for the first time in Italy, illustrate Italian Renaissance majolica , the art form that in the most complete way and with the most vivid colors reflects the taste and lifestyle of women and men. of the Renaissance.
The fascinating and unique history of Italian majolica in its golden age, from the second half of the 1400s to the mid 1500s, is told by an exceptional curator, the art historian Timothy Wilson, in collaboration with Cristina Maritano, curator of the Palazzo Madam.

The exhibition traces the development of majolica practiced in numerous centers of Tuscany, Emilia, Marche and Umbria, where skilled potters were able to renew Islamic ceramics by contaminating it with motifs inspired by the Gothic and Renaissance repertoire and with those deriving from Chinese porcelain.
The surfaces of plates, pourers, cups, refreshments and vases welcomed religious themes, ancient myths, chivalrous novels, sacred and profane stories that enriched the private and public environments of the stately homes : this novelty, developed in Italy between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, gave prestige and fame in cities such as Gubbio, Deruta, Faenza, Casteldurante, Urbino, whose ceramics were requested and exported throughout Europe.
In the furnishing of the Italian house, particularly in the country residences, the historiated majolica was displayed on the cupboards but also used on the tables and were offered as diplomatic gifts or on occasions such as weddings and births; small sculptures sometimes masked the function of inkwells or fountains; particularly flourishing became the use of majolica in pharmacy kits, generally commissioned by religious institutions.
Compared to traditional painting, Renaissance majolica shows greater freedom, in the choice of subjects and in the decoration: many of the painted stories derive in any case from the repertoires of engravings that circulated in the workshops and which were the means to reproduce on a small scale and for a domestic vision the most famous inventions of the great painters of the time.
The decoration of majolica at the highest levels requires the delicate hand of a miniaturist and the confident hand of a fresco painter, since the slightest error on the absorbent enamel, as well as on the plaster of the fresco painter, can irreparably compromise the final result.
On display some works by the main majolica painters known as Nicola da Urbino and Francesco Xanto Avelli and some masterpieces such as a pair of Domenigo da Venezia's albarelli, a large refreshment from Urbino and the Medici porcelain jug of Palazzo Madama, an exceptional example of the first European imitation of Chinese porcelain, made by majolica makers from Urbino who worked in Florence at the court of Francesco I de 'Medici.

Timothy Wilson, currently honorary curator of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, is one of the foremost experts in Renaissance majolica and he is responsible for the systematic catalogs of the collections of the British Museum in London, the Metropolitan Museum in New York , the National Gallery of Victoria in Australia and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.