Diomede Durante e la fortuna del decoro ‘a foglia di prezzemolo’ nella maiolica romana dal Cinquecento al Settecento

This paper sheds light on the legacy of ‘a foglia di prezzemolo’ (a leaf of parsely) decoration in the ceramics produced in Rome from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. The reconstruction of the Roman production context and the analysis of the results sprung from archaeological excavations conducted in Rome itself confirm that Roman majolica was prevalently created for everyday life and pharmaceutical use. The study of a large number of apothecary ceramics, dated between the sixteenth and eighteenth century, and mostly unpublished, has demonstrated the prevalence of ‘a foglia di prezzemolo’ decoration, whose origin is currently debated. The works of important artists such as Vincenzo Brizzelli di Montelupo and Diomede Superchina, generally known as Diomede Durante di Castel- durante, both active in Rome, show how this motif had been used by ceramists independently from their provenance. Amongst the ceramists active in Rome in the period under study, Diomede Durante played a leading role. Through published and unpublished documents, this paper aims at offering a thorough picture of Durante’s biography and a first defini- tion of the large corpus of his works hosted in public and private collections worldwide.