{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O124987"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O124987/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AL4381/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AL4381/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AL4381","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AL4380","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KA0842","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O124987/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O124987","accessionNumber":"C.2116-1910","objectType":"Tazza","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Within Renaissance society,  great emphasis was placed on the continuation of the lineage. Politically and economically advantageous alliances were meticulously negotiated and lavishly celebrated. This was only possible with extravagant spending and those who could afford it paid vast sums of money to fete the occasion. An elaborate courtship involved the exchange of many gifts particularly associated with, and often made especially for, the ritual. Therefore, art objects had a specific role in the practical business of arranging a marriage, translating tangible wealth in to signifiers of abstract virtue.\r\n\r\nLove was a major iconographic theme in the decoration of maiolica. Besides the amorous themes from myth and legend, there exist numerous plates painted with the idealised portrait of a woman, often accompanied by her name. Known as belle donne (beautiful women) plates, these have usually been interpreted as tokens of love relating to courtship and marriage, and reflect the concerns with courtly standards of beauty, believed to be an outward show of inner virtue, found in contemporary treatises. In this example both a man and woman are depicted. The man holds a red carnation, which is particularly associated with betrothal, and behind the pair runs the motto DULCE EST AMARE (sweet is love).","physicalDescription":"Painted in dark blue, yellow, orange, red, copper green, greenish grey and manganese purple, with busts of two lovers embracing. The woman wears a close-fitting cap, the man, who offers her a pink in his left hand, a plumed cap and a slashed doublet. Behind their heads a scroll with the inscription DULCE EST AMARE. On the back, in blue, a criss-cross border, tiger's claw motives surrounding the foot, and, within it, a wavey scroll traversed by a straight bar.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Mancini, Giacomo","id":"A17698"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":"workshop of, probably"}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"earthenware","id":"x29356"},{"text":"tin glaze","id":"AAT233436"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Tin-glazed earthenware","categories":[{"text":"Ceramics","id":"THES48982"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"CER","id":"THES48594"},"images":["2006AL4381","2006AL4380","2017KA0842"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"64","id":"THES49735"},"free":"","case":"2","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Tazza","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Deruta","id":"x35295"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1550","earliest":"1545-01-01","latest":"1554-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Bequeathed by George Salting, Esq.","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"5.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"26.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"0.68","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Delsette Collection, bequeathed by Mr. George Salting\n\nHistorical significance: Love was a major iconographic theme in the decoration of maiolica. Besides the amorous themes from myth and legend, there exist numerous plates painted with the idealised portrait of a woman, often accompanied by her name. Known as belle donne (beautiful women) plates, these have usually been interpreted as tokens of love relating to courtship and marriage. The elegantly attired female subjects reflect the concerns with courtly standards of beauty, believed to be an outward show of inner virtue, found in contemporary treatises. In this example both a man and woman are depicted. The man holds a red carnation, which is particularly associated with betrothal, and behind the pair runs the motto DULCE EST AMARE (sweet is love).","historicalContext":"Within Renaissance society,  great emphasis was placed on the continuation of the lineage. Politically and economically advantageous alliances were meticulously negotiated and lavishly celebrated. This was only possible with extravagant spending and those who could afford it paid vast sums of money to fete the occasion. An elaborate courtship involved the exchange of many gifts particularly associated with, and often made especially for, the ritual. Therefore, art objects had a specific role in the practical business of arranging a marriage.","briefDescription":"Dish painted with depiction of lovers","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Rackham B., <u>Italian Maiolica</u>,  London, Faber & Faber, 1952"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Syson, Luke & Dora Thornton, <u>Objects of Virtue: Art in Renaissance Italy</u>, London: The British Museum Press, 2001"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Musacchio, J., <u>The Art and Ritual of Childbirth in Renaissance Italy</u>, Yale, 1999"},{"reference":{"text":"Ajmar-Wollheim, Marta and Flora Dennis, <i>At Home in Renaissance Italy</i>, London: V&A Publishing, 2006.","id":"AUTH347593"},"details":"","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["C.2116-1910"],"accessionNumberNum":"2116","accessionNumberPrefix":"C","accessionYear":1910,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"Rackham (1977)","id":"THES56972"},"number":"755"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LR1356","2019LT3324","2019LU0766","2023NJ7517"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-16","recordCreationDate":"2006-06-08","availableToBook":false}}