Bella Donna Charger

c. 1520–30

Bella Donna Charger, c. 1520–30. Italy, Papal States, Deruta. Tin-glazed earthenware with yellow and blue lustre (maiolica); diameter: 8.6 x 41.3 cm (3 3/8 x 16 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1923.1096 Ceremonial plates decorated with a bella donna (beautiful woman) feature half-length portraits of a young woman surrounded by scrolled banners. Many bella donna plates were informed by the frescos of Renaissance painters Pietro Perugino and Pinturicchio. Scholars believe that chargers such as these were given as marriage gifts or in memory of someone who had died.