Boccia Faenza, c. 1550-1570 Majolica. Height cm... Lot 11

Boccia Faenza, c. 1550-1570 Majolica. Height cm 31. Conservation: recomposed neck and base with rim taken up in restoration with minor glaze failures This is a typical apothecary "boccia" of full-bodied globular shape, small slightly flared foot and mouth of almost equal diameter, with low cylindrical collar and everted rim. On the frontal area stands an oval medallion in which is enclosed the naked figure of a reclining man, clutching an oar in his right hand, a clear allegory of the river (Tiberinus Pater?). Horizontally painted beneath the medallion is a sinuous scroll, on which is traced the pharmaceutical legend in Gothic type "trifera mangia" ("trifera magna"), a medicine that was prescribed for stomach pains in the 1500s. On the remaining surface are arranged "broad trophies" based mainly on ancient weapons, although there is no shortage of other elements including a viella, a lute, bound sheets with pseudo-writing, and a cartouche on which the initials "S" and "F" read. The decorative robe is completed by some bands on the collar, shoulder, and toward the lower area, composed of a festoon and a continuous shoot of acanthus leaves. Painted in orange, blue, grayish half-tone, yellow and green From a stylistic point of view, the work is striking for the quality of the allegory of the River, inscribed in the front medallion. It is in fact painted in blackish-brown monochrome, recalling a sixteenth-century chiaroscuro design@@@ the figure moreover is outlined according to a fully "compendiary" ductus, that is, with remarkable descriptive looseness that lightens both the contours and the chiaroscuro passages, to which the background of bright yellow effectively detaches the solitary statuesque figure of the river. Although the half-tone monochrome of the allegory is the same as that employed for the "broad trophies" that are arranged all around, they nevertheless show a more pronounced quality in the outlines and a clear emphasis on the elements that compose them. Similar "trophies" also find wide recognition both territorially, as evidenced by numerous finds recovered from urban sites, and through "trophy" works in public and private collections, some dated," such as a set of "bowls" and albarellos from "1555" with the initials "FAENTIA" (1). Still on the subject of "trophies," an interesting aspect is the presence of the initials "S" and "F" traced on a cartouche, which could stand for Senatus (populusque) Faventinus, a probable contractual adaptation of the acronym of Roman tradition, frequently included in Faentine "trophy" maiolica, as confirmed, for example, by a similar bowl from the Museo Civico in Bologna, in which, in addition to the date "1569," the initials "S.P.Q.F." appears on a cartouche in full (2) 1) RAVANELLI GUIDOTTI 2004, card 12, pp. 80 ff. 2) RAVANELLI GUIDOTTI 1998, pp. 396 ff. Bibliography RAVANELLI GUIDOTTI 1998 RAVANELLI GUIDOTTI CARMEN, Thesaurus of works of the Faenza tradition from the collections of the Museo Internazionale delle ceramiche in Faenza, Faenza 1998 RAVANELLI GUIDOTTI 2004 RAVANELLI GUIDOTTI CARMEN, Musica di smalto, catalog of the Exhibition held in Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi Sala delle Reali Poste, April-June 2004, Ferrara 2004