Castelli d'Abruzzo. Maiolica, dish with the miracle of the loaves and fishes, mid-18th century

Castelli d'Abruzzo.  

Maiolica, dish with the miracle of the loaves and fishes, mid-18th century

Polychrome tin-glazed maiolica (grand feu) Castelli, Abruzzo, mid-18th century Diameter: approx. 17.5 cm

Decorative maiolica dish, hand-painted in Castelli, depicting the Gospel scene of the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

At the center, Christ is seated, with several loaves resting on his knees, while to his left a young boy offers him two fish held in his hands. Around them, a few disciples gesture expressively, bringing life to the scene in a naïve and accessible style.

The composition likely derives from an 18th-century religious print, as was common in Castelli workshops, where sacred subjects from popular engravings were reinterpreted in a decorative and narrative key. The background features a line of distant hills, fading into soft blue, following the atmospheric taste characteristic of Castelli’s maiolica.

The colour palette — cobalt blue, copper green, antimony yellow, ochre, and manganese brown — is applied in grand feu technique, with swift and spontaneous brushwork. Back glazed in white, undecorated.