A very large and fine Urbino Maiolica Istoriato Dish, Probably from the Workshop of Orazio Fontana, the shallow bowl with flared rim and painted with a scene of the Adoration of the Magi after Giovanni Battista Franco (called il Semolei), showing the Three Kings arriving before the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child and offering their sacred royal gifts. The town of Bethlehem extends in the background to a distant lake and mountains, the Star shining brightly above the Manger.

Further Details
Giovanni Battista Franco (c1510-61) the Italian Mannerist worked in an array of mediums including printmaking, etching and painting. His works survive in the Palazzo of Ottaviano de Medici that he completed with Georgio Vasari (c1511-74) and a fresco in the Oratory of San Giovanni Decollato.

As recorded by Vasari in his biography, Franco made ‘Infiniti designi’ for the Guidobaldo II, Duke of Urbino’s maiolica factory at Castel Durante. The Duke comissioned a series of designs from Battista Fraco which were to be used in services presented as gifts for the Emperor Charles V and for the Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. His designs were also used by the neighbouring maiolica factories.