The term maiolica was originally coined by Italian consumers to describe the ceramic ware being imported from Moorish Spain during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. At the same moment that Islamic maiolica was being commissioned by Italian nobles and merchants who could afford it, Italian artisans were simultaneously developing their own version, one based on experimentation rather than the “traditional” style of the Iberian Peninsula. By the sixteenth century, Italian maiolica had superseded Islamic maiolica in Italian marketplaces. Although recent scholarship has emphasized the increasing popularity of maiolica and its establishment in the Italian pottery oeuvre, the social history surrounding the ceramic ware’s success—through the eyes of the artisans who produced it—has not been thoroughly addressed. Thus, this paper will focus specifically on the city of Florence in order to explore the social, economic, and aesthetic agendas of Florentine consumers and how their support of maiolica production during this time enabled the rise of the Italian artisan. I propose that as the aesthetic and socioeconomic interests of the Italian pottery industry expanded to include the Islamic maiolica tradition, the ceramic ware became increasingly sought-after and accessible to a wider demographic, and consequently helped the artisan establish his spot among the growing middle class in Renaissance Italy.

Angelique would like to thank their faculty sponsor Dr. Bradley Bailey for their support in this project.