Bowl in "Faenza white" maiolica 1565 - 1585

Leonardo Bettisi, known as Don Pino, created this maiolica bowl in Faenza, Italy, sometime between 1566 and 1589. The bowl's design is divided into distinct zones, which employ contrasting colors. The central medallion displays a classical figure in pale hues, set against a landscape. Radiating outwards is a lattice of alternating blue and white fields, populated with stylized motifs. These are overlaid by diagonal bands of gold which create a dynamic, geometric interplay. The juxtaposition of the central representational scene with the abstract, patterned border invites a semiotic reading. The figure represents classical ideals, while the surrounding patterns may signify the ordered world. The bowl’s structure suggests a deliberate attempt to harmonize different modes of representation. The visual tension between figure and pattern, realism and abstraction, reflects the broader cultural dialogues of the late Renaissance. The artist destabilizes fixed meanings by placing these elements in dynamic relation to each other.