Armorial dish: Supper at the House of Simon the Pharisee essay
Armorial dish: Supper at the House of Simon the Pharisee
Tin-glaze decoration pottery presents an amazing world of paints, ornaments and forms. Although several centuries have passed since maiolica gained popularity among the Italian artisans, the entire collection goes on fascinating and inspiring today’s visitors of the exhibition. Here, mythological and biblical subjects are met side by side, and together this thematic direction is known as ‘istoriato’ style. It goes without saying that historiated imagery is rather helpful and informative. On the one hand, it is a significant cultural and historical source because it reflects important events and facts of the past. On the other hand, most of the dishes fulfilled not only a decorative role, but were also used in household. In this way, maiolica also reflects the household realities and tableware nuances typical for Italy of the 16th century. Joined together with aesthetic significance, the facts listed above make this exclusive type of decorated pottery extremely attractive for both specialists and common people. This study is intended to analyze the attractiveness of Italian maiolica by the example of one of the most extraordinary works in the collection, Armorial dish: Supper at the House of Simon the Pharisee made by maestro Giorgio Andreoli in 1528.
The subject of Armorial dish: Supper at the House of Simon the Pharisee is devoted to one of the Biblical scenes, conventionally known as the story of Jesus’ feet anointed in the house of a Pharisee. Jesus’ visit to Simon the Pharisee is described in the Gospel according to St. Luke (New Jerusalem Bible, Luke 7.36-50). To be more specific, the plate presents a scene of a feast. One of the guests is Jesus sitting on a divan. Together with a woman by His feet, He makes up a critical segment of the work. They are not placed in the center of the composition, still the focus is deliberately made on them. The dish is a traditionally round plate, and the Biblical subject is placed at the main part of it. The round shape of the plate creates an illusion of a peeped scene, as if the viewer looks at it through a round opening. Such an illusion fills the artwork with a mysterious allure and grabs the viewer’s attention the same moment he or she comes in touch with it.
The rim of the plate is, meanwhile, decorated with an exquisite ornament. The ornament includes elaborately produced grotesques, arabesques, and strapworks. The elements of the ornament do not have a direct connection with the subject, but they edge the composition making it look completed and add the sense of relief to it.
As it has been already mentioned, the literary source for the subject is the Gospel according to St. Luke. It is written that Simon the Pharisee invited Jesus to his house despite the common attitude of this sect to Him. Jesus could not decline the invitation because it was His rule to communicate with all the estates. Simon was probably driven by curiosity or had a will to assert himself through the act of condescending patronage to a poor man. What is more, he probably wanted to test Jesus and get an evidence of His fraud. As a result, however, he received an evidence of his own delusion. For Simon the Pharisee, Jesus was not among the respected guests, so he did not care to provide Him with traditional honors, such as washing the feet and anointing the head with oil. While rest of the guests were surrounded by slaves’ care and provided with comfort, there suddenly appeared a woman to eliminate the injustice. In that town, the woman was famous for her sins. Driven by sincere emotions, Mary came to Jesus, washed His feet with tears, dried them with her hair and anointed with an expensive ointment from an alabaster cruse. While Simon omitted all the traditional courtesies, Mary did more than the most respected guest could expect: “I entered into thy house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath wetted my feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. Thou gavest me no kiss: but she, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but she hath anointed my feet with ointment” (New Jerusalem Bible, Luke 7.44-46). It is this moment that is fixed at the dish made by maestro Giorgio Andreoli. Still, the full sense of the scene can be understood only if to read the chapter further. Simon the Pharisee is naturally struck by the event, but even more is he struck by Jesus’ reaction of not pushing the sinful woman from Him. According to Simon’s logic, Jesus tended to be a prophet, and being a prophet, should have seen who the woman was and should defend Himself from her mud. Simon made a conclusion that Jesus could not understand who the woman was and this fact proved to him that Jesus was a pretender. However, Jesus could easily read the thoughts of Simon the Pharisee and, in response, told him a parable about debtors who could not pay a debt to their creditor. God is a mighty creditor for all the people on earth and all of them have a lot of debts to pay and know chance to do it. But Jesus explains that the debts will be forgiven for love, and such people as Mary are the first to be forgiven because of their sincere repentance and strong faith. This subject provides essential material for thinking about vanity and arrogance personified by Simon the Pharisee on the one hand and obedience and humility personified by Mary on the other hand.
As the dish is rather big (18 5/16 inches in diameter), it is enough to carry such a complex narrative composition and is also rather convenient in studying the image. The author of the dish borrowed the composition from Marcantonio Raimondi’s engraving of the same subject. It is worth of noting that Marcantonio Raimondi’s engravings were rather popular as a source for maiolica artisans, but the armorial dish under consideration is considered to be one of the most extraordinary works of that time. The scene is draped with dark-blue curtains that correlate with the clothes of Jesus and Mary of the same color. There are two painted pieces on the wall, and they seem to be the two parts of the same painting because their contents supplement each other. The dishes are on the table, and a little slave brings some more for the guests. The scene would be conventional if the woman did not do such an unprecedented honor to the least honored guest of the house. Therefore, the overall impression of the dish can become rather strong if a viewer finds strength and wish to go deeper into its sense. One can even suppose that the curtains framing the story are meant for the viewer to go to the backstage hidden in the book of the New Testament of the Bible.
Since the work is entitled as an armorial dish, it apparently means that the dish did not have a utilitarian meaning, but was an important component of the patron’s coats of arms (heraldry). It seems not to be used in household, but to have a great decorative meaning for its master and further owner. On the other hand, the subject of the product includes a scene of mealtime and being evaluated by its surface could easily accompany a grand dinner or a ceremonial feast. The more obvious the association between the mealtime and the conventional purpose of a dish, the stronger the contrast between first impression and the true meaning of the subject.
All in all, Armorial dish: Supper at the House of Simon the Pharisee is an eloquent example of how painting on pottery can make a profound impact on a viewer. No manufacture can be compared with craft production of decorative arts like that presented in this collection. Maybe golden and silver tableware could be more expensive and respectful, but this kind of production has shown its own bonuses. It could be either utilitarian or decorative, but more often majolica played both of the roles, so it makes the collection of tin-glaze decorated pottery meaningful and informative.
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