Wendy M. Watson. Italian Renaissance Ceramics from the Howard I. and Janet H. Stein Collection and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2001. 224 pp. illus, bibl. index. $45. ISBN: 087633-154-1.

Novel in its approach and organization, this volume examines--in seven copiously illustrated essays and utilizing seventy-three objects from the Howard I. and Janet H. Stein collection and thirty objects from the holdings of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA)--various aspects of Italian Renaissance maiolica, including its manufacture, artists, production centers, design, function, patronage, value, and relation to other domestic goods.

Although published on the occasion of an associated exhibition, Italian Renaissance Ceramics is not properly an exhibition catalogue. The book's historiographical format shapes a concise and coherent chronicle out of historical data and is a welcome change to standard museum collection catalogues that often plunge the reader in medias res with object descriptions largely devoid of any social context. In facing the "challenge to create a book useful for both neophytes and specialists" (9), Watson wisely makes no pretense to surveying the entire history of Renaissance maiolica.

The relation of maiolica to printed design sources and the "major" arts is a critical subject that has received serious attention in the last two decades. It has in some regard become passe to illustrate the same, well-known Marcantonio-school engravings utilized by painters of istoriato. But for those new to the field, reproduction of some of the design sources identified for the Stein/PMA maiolica would have served several good purposes, not the least of which would have been to demonstrate the degree to which maiolica painters extracted from and modified these models. Among Renaissance applied arts, maiolica is unusually privileged in that its vibrant colors have survived half a millennium with undiminished brilliance. While the inclusion of large color images of nearly all the pieces in the exhibition is laudable, the color accuracy of the illustrations disappoints on several counts. The reproduction of one of the star istoriato pieces (110) is plagued by what appears to be a photographer's lighting error that obscures the critical figure in the allegory; the golden yellow luster of every Deruta piatto da pompa appears orange-like; and there are numerous casualties of overexposed blues.

No rationale can be detected for why the reverses of only ten works are included as full-color illustrations in the "Appendix of Reverses" (175-77), while others--some with documentary inscriptions, or at least more-interesting decoration--are reproduced as black-and-white details in the checklist section. It is regrettable that the inscriptions of several pieces are not reproduced, even though they were transcribed, since handwriting analysis is an important tool in assigning istoriato works to particular artists or workshops. Because the full-page images separating chapters lack any identifying captions, readers are left to their own devices to discover, for instance, that the image introducing chapter 6 is actually the interior of the bowl from the two-piece childbirth set shown in three alternate views nine pages later.

With respect to the bibliography cited by Watson, specialists will recognize noticeable gaps, particularly in the literature of the last five years or so. Editorial constraints may have resulted in certain omissions--a note informing readers that the bibliographic citations for the checklist are not comprehensive appears on page 14--yet the absence in the bibliography of any publications after 1993 by the prolific Carmen Ravanelli Guidotti is most surprising given the proportion of Stein/PMA objects made in or associated with Faenza. And when, at various places in the text, notable maiolica works are cited for comparative purposes, the reader is at times not led, via footnote, to the respective standard references for further study.

The unusual format of the book may have dictated the inclusion of a "checklist" rather than full-scale exegetic catalogue entries, and for some objects these brief entries must be balanced with the copious information presented in the essay sections where the objects are first introduced. The dating of several of the objects could be refined or modified in light of published comparanda, and specialists may lament that, in certain instances, intracacies of controversial or uncertain attributions are treated rather cursorily. For example, Watson attributes, unqualifiedly, the imposing Destruction of Troy dish (cat. 4) to Francesco di Piero--a workshop owner, but not necessarily a painter--presumably from a suggestion made by Timothy Wilson nearly fifteen years ago.

With an eye to future studies there is surely room for aggiornamenti and suggestions and notes on points of detail for individual objects. The intriguing dish dated 1555 (cat. 55), for example--an allegorical painting related to Vespasiano Gonzaga and his transformation of the small town of Sabbioneta into an ideal Renaissance city--will benefit from further research, and it pleases to learn this object will be the focus of a forthcoming article by Watson. As the design of the dish immediately recalls the work of Battista Franco (employed by Guidobaldo II of Urbino intermittently ca. 1545-51), its provisional attribution to Mantua surprises since Renaissance pottery production at that center appears to be nearly wholly limited to incised slipware and rather undistinguished tin-glazed wares. Nothing would seem to exclude prima facie the (more probable) consideration of mid-century workshops established in Urbino, Venice, or Faenza.

These observations and nigglings in no way detract from Watson's achievement: a scholarly, detailed, and beautifully illustrated volume that is required reading for anyone interested in the applied arts and material culture of Renaissance Italy. In particular, neophytes to the study of majolica will benefit from the synthesis of the diverse topics covered in the chapter essays, including discussion of the conditions in which these vessels were designed, manufactured, and purchased, and how contemporaries valued and used them.

MICHAEL J. BRODY

Harvard University