The Holy Family: MAR.C.60-1912

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1912) by Marlay, Charles Brinsley

Dating

Second quarter of 16th century
Renaissance
Production date: circa CE 1531

Note

If not painted by the 'Milan Marsyas Painter' this was probably painted by Francesco Xanto Avelli da Rovigo

Label text from the exhibition ‘Feast and Fast: The Art of Food in Europe, 1500–1800’, on display at The Fitzwilliam Museum from 26 November 2019 until 31 August 2020: Cover depicting The Holy Family from a (lost) accouchement set\nfrom a (lost) accouchement set Recovery from childbirth – the most dangerous experience in most women’s lives – required nourishing food, like sweetmeats or broths. In Italy, these were traditionally served from a maiolica set given to the new mother during her post-natal confinement period, often by her husband. It usually comprised 5 stacked pieces: a standing bowl and cover (that doubled as a plate), a footed drinking bowl, and a salt and its cover. The Nativity scene beautifully painted onto the upper side of this cover (tagliere) was meant to inspire the new mother, who would have looked to the Virgin and St Anne as models of motherhood. The reverse is painted with two putti, the family’s coat-of- arms, and the initials, ‘ELI’ and ‘PYA’, thought to be the name of the father, ‘Elisio Piani’, a government official in early sixteenth-century Urbino. Probably ‘Milan Marsyas Painter’, Le Marche, Italy, c.1531, after an engraving by Giovanni Giacomo Caraglio (c.1505–65) after Parmigianino (1503–40).

Label text from the exhibition ‘Madonnas and Miracles: The Holy Home in Renaissance Italy’, on display at The Fitzwilliam Museum from 7 March until 4 June 2017: This cover is the surviving part of a set of painted ceramic pieces traditionally given by a father to celebrate the safe delivery of his child. The nativity scene includes Mary, Joseph and a female saint; the central figure embracing the new-born Christ has no halo and may be a midwife. The scene is based on an engraving from a design by Parmigianino.

The Holy Family on the top of the cover was derived from the Adoration of the Shepherds, engraved by G.G. Caraglio after Parmigianino

School or Style

Renaissance

People, subjects and objects depicted

• Cover
• Cover from an accouchement set bowl
• Tagliere
• Christ Child
• Virgin Mary
• St Joseph
• St Anne
• Putti
• Coat-of-arms
• The Holy Family

Components of the work

Decoration: composed of high-temperature colours ( blue, turquoise-green, yellow, orange, black, grey, and white)

Materials used in production

Tin-glaze Earthenware

Techniques used in production

Tin-glazing : Pale buff earthenware, tin-glazed overall, and painted in blue, turquoise-green, yellow, orange, black, grey, and white.

Inscription or legends present

Inscription present: I smaller than L and Y and A joined

• Text: ELI PYA
• Location: On back flanking arms
• Inscription

References and bibliographic entries

• Catalogue des faïences italiennes . . . et de deux pièces de la célèbre porcelaine des Medicis, composant l'importante collection de M. Alessandro Castellani
• Catalogue of Specimens of Hispano-Moresque and Majolica Pottery Exhibited in 1887 page(s): p. 49
• Italian Maiolica and Incised Slipware in the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge page(s): pp. 333-5
• Fitzwilliam Museum Handbooks, Italian Maiolica page(s): 64-5
• The Art and Ritual of Childbirth in Renaissance Italy page(s): pp. 146-7
• The Identification of Maiolica from Sanseverino page(s): 93
• Madonnas and Miracles. The Holy Home in Renaissance Italy page(s): 32-33
• Feast & Fast. The Art of Food in Europe 1500-1800 page(s): p. 213, 253
• "Delle Impagliate" ossia annotazioni intorno alle maioliche da puerpera cinquecentesche page(s): 59-109
• Italian Renaissance Maiolica page(s): 151
• Italian Renaissance and Later Ceramics, Entries page(s): 62-4
• Maiolica: Italian Renaissance Ceramics in the Metropolitan Museum of Art page(s): 196-7

Related exhibitions

• Feast and Fast: The Art of Food in Europe (1500-1800)
• Specimens of Hispano-Moresque and Majolica Pottery exhibited in 1887
• Italian Maiolica in the Fitzwilliam Museum
• The Times of our Lives: Rites of Passage
• Madonnas and Miracles. The Holy Home in Renaissance Italy

Identification numbers

Accession number: MAR.C.60-1912
Primary reference Number: 77384
Stable URI

Audit data

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts