Majolica Bust of a Woman in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, July 2011

Bust of a woman
Italian (possibly Montelupo), Renaissance, about 1490–1500

Dimensions: 53.3 x 43.2 x 21.6 cm (21 x 17 x 8 1/2 in.)

Medium or Technique: Tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)

Classification: Ceramics

Accession Number: 54.146

Head turned slightly left, sleeves striped in green, blue and yellow. Yellow bodice with flowered ornament, painted necklace. White bandings in hair surround hole in top of head.

There are very few large-scale sculptures in maiolica, a material usually reserved for smaller vessels and plates. But here the characteristic colors of Renaissance pottery are used in a portrait bust of a young woman who wears bright, sumptuous clothes and jewels, characteristic dress for a young betrothed or recently married woman. The ambitious maker of this bust even tried to achieve realistic flesh tones in the glazes.

Text from: www.mfa.org/collections/object/bust-of-a-woman-58920