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Charger “Julius Caesar Offering Food and Wine to the Roman People”

Workshop of Antonio Patanazzi

1589-1590

The scene on this plate depicts the Emperor Julius Caesar offering food and wine to the Roman people. It is probably based on a drawing by the artist Taddeo Zuccaro (1529-66). Zuccaro designed specifically for majolica workshops, and his drawings are known to have been used regularly by Urbino majolica painters. The scene is an example of istoriato decoration. With istoriato majolica, the entire surface of the object is treated as a canvas for painting, and each piece is decorated with colorful scenes that tell a story. Popularized by the Urbino workshops, istoriato pottery represents the first time that the craft of Italian majolica achieved a status almost equivalent to that of the fine arts.


The central scene is surrounded by grotesques, a term used to describe the painted ornamentation found on the walls of antique houses that were excavated during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries in Rome. Around 1519 the artist Raphael and his students painted the Vatican loggias with similar colorful grotesques on a white ground, and they were first used on majolica objects from the early 1560s, usually to surround large istoriato scenes. The grotesques on this plate, which incorporate fantastic birds, part-human creatures, scrolls, stylized urns, and medallions imitating engraved gems, may derive from the set of etchings known as Les Petites Grotesques by the French architect and designer Jacques Androuet I Du Cerceau (1510-84).


The coat-of-arms at the top of the plate refers to Gregorio Petrocchini da Montelparo (1536-1612), made bishop by Pope Sixtus V on December 20, 1589. Around this time, a large service was made for Petrocchini, which would have been displayed on a large sideboard, or credenza, in his villa. The plate remained in the Petrocchini family until late 2009.

See More of the Collection

Chatelaine comprised of three blue and white jasper medallions and six beads mounted as pendants, watch keys, and seals, and a solid blue jasper seal with polished surface mounted in steel and gold with a hook on the back, the entire piece with five hanging elements suspended from a central element comprised of a jasper medallion with a scene of two figures riding a sea serpent set in an engraved gold mount, the first hanging element with two beads on a steel and gold chain, the lower bead with a band of cut steel diamonds functions as a watch key; the second element is a steel and gold chain with a hook from which hangs a jasper and gold seal (the plate is not engraved); the third element, the longest central element, includes a jasper bead on a steel chain above a jasper medallion of a seated figure with scythe, below this the sold blue jasper seal decorated with classical figures around, the plate likewise with two classical figures; the fourth hanging element comprised of a steel and gold chain from which hangs a two-sided blue and white jasper medallion set in a steel mount that functions as a watch key, the medallion with scenes of Psyche bound by Cupid, and two Cupids; the fifth and last hanging element consists of a similar chain with a jasper bead and a gold mounted jasper seal.
Bust in profile left in civilian dress.
Bust in profile right in Russian general's uniform with medals. This portrait was made in Paris during the spring of 1814, shortly before Posch returned to Berlin.
Vase of sold light blue jasperware with white relief and molded decoration, the body is urn-shaped with a low, squat foot with gadrooned edge that rests on a small, square plinth, the plinth is decorated with stylized anthemion motifs, a band of beading hides the spot where the foot meets the body, the body is decorated with a row of stylized acanthus leaves at the base and below the shoulder with an irregular pattern of billowy rushes and cat-o-nine tails, the deep shoulder curves up to form the neck of the vase, on either side sits a large swan with outstretched wings, its long neck curved, its head resting on its chest to form handles, the lip with a band of batswing, or radiating flute, motifs, the cover with the figure of a kneeling Leda giving sustenance to the swan.