Bowl with Agnus Dei

Low hull-shaped, two-handle bowl with high foot; small, flat bottom; glazed internally and externally. In the center of the bowl, between two parallel brown lines designed to mark out the space, is an Agnus Dei. The find belongs to the so-called Proto-majolica phase. This term, taken from the designations traditionally used to define the periods of ancient Attic pottery, adopted by Gaetano Ballardini when he systematically classified Italian majolica, is used to chronologically define a type of glazed ceramic tableware produced from the mid-thirteenth century in central and northern Italy and whose basic characteristic is the presence of a stanniferous vitrified glaze over the container’s main surface, which is also embellished with pictorial decorations in copper green and manganese brown, while secondary surfaces are simply covered with a plumbiferous glaze. Proto-majolica forms are divided into open and closed types and are characterized by numerous variants and subvariants often produced in specific areas, such as the pelican mug typical of the Umbria-Latium area. Since the class occupies a rather broad chronological range, it is still problematic to date in order to establish a satisfactory overview of its evolution, but in central Italy the area occupied by this new class—which in terms of technique and final product was aimed at replacing previous tableware such as green glazed ceramics, underglazed painted ceramics, and Latium ceramics—would seem to be the city of Pisa. Generally speaking, it is possible to observe an “early phase” (1200–1250), relating exclusively to the production of Attic Majolica basins for architectural decorations; a “developed phase,” which can be dated to 1250–1350 when Attic Majolica, produced as tableware ceramics, is found in significant numbers in most archaeological sites; there is then a third, “late phase,” which goes from 1350 to the first half of the fifteenth century, during which, both morphologically and decoratively, we have a series of internal elaborations that in some cases evolve into subsequent Renaissance forms. This large class contains distinct productions on an almost regional basis. Umbrian production—which this particular artifact belongs to—is usually associated with northern Latium production, which in fact would seem to be strongly influenced by the former.
The Agnus Dei motif can frequently been found on the bottom of two-handle, hull-shaped bowls within two concentric circles, facing right or left with the lamb's right forepaw holding a processional cross and surrounded by motifs traced in an extremely diluted green. The halo and processional cross together with the filled-in body present minor yet notable variations: the fleece is rarely given a lattice-like filling and is usually characterized by relatively large and relatively regular semicircles; the cross on the pennant is always heightened but is also distinguished by cross strokes (single, double, or treble) and small circles; the halo may consist of a simple line but is more often hatched and bordered by a copper band (as in this case); and the tail, finally, may be either straight or curled. It is therefore be possible to say that the various depictions we have all refer to the same prototype, or perhaps at most two distinct prototypes, and were reworked by different painters exclusively in relation to entirely marginal aspects. As with the symbols of the Passion, the chronological period of reference is rather broad, and we might date the motif to some time between the middle of the thirteenth century and the middle of the fourteenth, while geographically the motif is highly characteristic of the northern Latium area, although there is also an abundance of finds in other areas, such as the Marches, for example. These small hull-shaped, two-handle bowls were mainly used for drinking but could also contain dipping sauces for raw vegetables and flatbreads, cooked fruit, or sweets. Similar shapes with slight morphological variations are found until the end of the fourteenth century, when more advanced fairing made it easier to hold the container with the hands. The handles thus became superfluous, and were eliminated.

Beatrice Brancazi

Entry published on 12 February 2025

Fair. Several breaks that were filled in two different restorations.

The item was first restored in 1994 and again in 1998.

The artifact belongs to the collection of Giulio Del Pelo Pardi, who in 1950 donated it, accompanied by a typewritten catalog prepared by Pericle Perali, to the Museo di Palazzo Venezia, where its traces were soon lost. In the 1990s, during a survey undertaken to retrieve and review the materials in the museum's depository, a collection was recovered and assumed to be the Del Pelo Pardi collection.

Orvieto, Museo della Tradizione Ceramica, Palazzo Simoncelli, Oltre il frammento, December 18, 1999–January 23, 2000;
Faenza, Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche, Oltre il frammento, May 20–September 30 2000;
Rome, Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia, Oltre il frammento, October 25, 2001–January 31, 2002.

Mazza Guido, La ceramica medioevale di Viterbo e dell’Alto Lazio, Viterbo, 1983, p. 80, fig. 99;
Sconci Maria Selene (a cura di), Oltre il frammento: forme e decori della maiolica medievale orvietana. Il recupero della collezione Del Pelo Pardi, Roma, 2000, p. 156, fig. 115. p. 157, fig. 116, p. 155, fig. 114;
Tamburini Pietro, Un museo e il suo territorio. Il museo territoriale del lago di Bolsena. 2. Dal periodo romano all’era moderna, Bolsena, 2001, p. 93, fig. 103a;
Casocavallo Beatrice, Le ceramiche rivestite bassomedievali, Quaranta Paola, Casocavallo Beatrice (a cura di), La tavola imbandita. Ceramiche ceretane tra medioevo e rinascimento, catalogo della mostra (Tarquinia, Palazzo Comunale, Sala del Monte di Pietà, 10-30 novembre 2013), Acquapendente 2013, p. 21, fig. 15;
Brancazi Beatrice, Miele Flora, Contenitori e simboli: i motivi religiosi delle ceramiche rivestite alto laziali, in «NUME. IV Ciclo di Studi medievali», 2018, pp. 357-359;
Piermartini, in Luzi, Romualdo, Romagnoli Giuseppe (a cura di), Le maioliche medievali dal butto di Celleno vecchio, catalogo della mostra (Viterbo, Museo della Ceramica della Tuscia, 18 maggio-14 luglio 2019), Viterbo 2019, p. 47, fig. 15;
Brancazi Beatrice, Nascoste in piena vista. I molteplici legami tra la scrittura e la ceramica basso medievale, in Campus Alessandro, Marchesini Simona, Poccetti Paolo (a cura di), Scritture nascoste, scritture invisibili. Quando il medium non fa “passare” il messaggio. Miscellanea internazionale multidisciplinare, Verona 2020.