Polyvalent plates

This book is dedicated to maiolica, the tin-glazed earthenware of Renaissance Italy. Ceramic glaze whitened with tin-oxide made the perfect ground for painted decoration, and the period 1480-1550 saw an explosion of every kind of imagery as ceramic painters responded to the new technologies of printing and printmaking. Franoise Barbe concentrates on the 16th century as a golden age and on istoriato: narrative-painted ware which only ever represented a tiny proportion of the maiolica produced in