BOWL, URBINO, PAINTER ACTIVE IN THE WORKSHOP OF NICOLA DI GABRIELE SBRAGHE, 1530-1540 CIRCA in polychrome painted majolica; on the back the initials F. in manganese; diam. cm 25,2, foot diam. cm 11,6, h. cm 5,6. cm 5,6 A BOWL, URBINO, PAINTER ACTIVE IN THE WORKSHOP OF NICOLA DI GABRIELE SBRAGHE, CIRCA 1530-1540 Comparative bibliography J. Giacomotti, Catalogue des majoliques des musées nationaux, Paris 1974, pp. 256-257 n. 835; E. Ivanova, Il secolo d'oro della maiolica. Ceramica italiana dei secoli XV-XVI dalla raccolta del Museo Statale dell'Ermitage, Faenza 2003, p. 103 n. 84 The bowl has a wide, smooth cavetto bordered by a slightly raised rim, and rests on a low, flared ring foot, decorated on the front with a scene that occupies the whole cavetto, matching its shape. On the back the plate bears an F in manganese brown overcoating perhaps a sign of collection. In the centre of the depiction Jesus, with his right hand raised in a sign of blessing, commands Lazarus to rise from the tomb, while his sister Mary is kneeling in prayer in front of Christ and the deceased rises from the tomb half-naked. Behind Jesus a group of disciples watch the scene. In this case the author has associated several engravings in the formation of the subject to be depicted, drawing for example the assembled characters from a well-known engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi depicting The Preaching of Saint Paul in the Aeropagus of Athens. The painter here exalts the profile of the faces, highlights their physiognomic and physical features, gives ample space to the landscape perspectives, but also to the architectural elements, as for example in the description of the sepulchre. The faces are not particularly elongated except in the female figure, the profiles are highlighted in manganese brown, the eyes are small and rendered in black with a small touch of white. The skilful use of colour can be seen in the watercolour drapery, skilfully emphasised with shading brushstrokes or touches of tin white. Significant comparisons can be made with two plates that share the religious subject: a bowl conserved at the Hermitage with the Burial of Christ (inv. no. F 2825) has refined motifs. F 2825) can be compared especially in some details of the landscape, such as the rock, the bare branches and complex landscapes with cities in the background, and in the way the drapery is treated and the inspiration from similar engravings. Another bowl in the Louvre (inv. no. OA 1728) with the same composition of the burial shows similarities. Although we must be cautious about attribution for a work of this nature, we nevertheless think that it can be included among the productions of the second quarter of the 16th century under the influence of Nicola di Gabriele Sbraghe.