When: closing August 5, 2018
There's a lovely display of majolica (or maiolica) at the National Gallery right now. A perfect storm of printed images, tin-glazed ceramics created in Italy based on Islamic designs, and an interest in antiquities made the 15th century a fertile time for maiolica.
Printed images made their way to artists who took those pictures and translated them into ceramics. The images were very colorful (my beef with prints is that they are usually monochromatic), eye-catching and popular. One artist would see what another was doing and develop his own take on the original print. The exhibit shows both the prints and the maiolica, so it's easy to see the movement from one medium to the other.
Much to my delight, there were Durer prints in the last room; I love his precision. Some of that is lost in the ceramic "version," but I enjoyed seeing the transformation nonetheless.
Last week, I saw 19th century selfies; this week, 15th century viral images. There really is nothing new under the sun.
Verdict: I liked this show; it's interesting and a good size for a lunchtime visit.
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