Getty Museum

Jar with the Profile of a Young Man

Date

about 1460–1480

Medium

Tin-glazed earthenware

Culture

Italian

Department

Decorative Arts

Institution

Getty Museum

Painted with blue, ocher, and green glazes over a white ground, this two-handled jar bears a young man in profile on one side, and ornamental patterns on the other. The neck of the jar features stripes of ocher and blue, and a series of radiating parallel lines in blue and ocher. The man wears sumptuous clothing. The thin blue strokes on his ocher doublet suggest a heavy, brocade fabric, and the doublet is topped with a pleated tunic. His elaborate outfit, jaunty cap and long, curling hair are typical of idealized young men depicted in late fifteenth-century Italian art. He is bordered by sinuous, scrolling lines that resemble vines and leaves. In contrast, the ornamental patterns on the other side of the jar include flat, stylized leaves; flowers alternating with undulating lines; and small “x” shapes inside of squares. It is difficult to attribute this jar to one city or another because variations on these motifs appear in Deruta, Montelupo, and Pesaro around the same period of time. Although this type of ceramic form is often described as a “pharmacy jar,” not all such objects were intended for professional use. They could store a number of dry goods, such as salt, in a domestic setting. Maiolica wares with fashionable young women and men in profile have often been connected to betrothal or marriage celebrations. Likewise, this two-handled jar may have been related to nuptials and displayed in a home.

The authoritative record is held by Getty Museum. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.