LARGE CRESPINA, VENICE, 1570 CIRCA in polychrome painted majolica; diam. cm 32, h. cm 4.7 A LARGE MOULDED BOWL (CRESPINA), VENICE, CIRCA 1570 Comparative bibliography: J. Lessmann, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum Braunschweig, Italienische Majolika, Katalog der Sammlung, Brunswick, 1979, p. 497 table 816; E.K. Swetlicka, Maiolica veneziana nelle collezioni polacche in G. Busti, M. Cesaretti, F. Cocchi (eds.), La maiolica italiana del Rinascimento. Studi e ricerche, Turhout 2019, p. 121 fig. 18 and p. 117 fig. 4 The cup has an open shape, slightly umbonate in the centre with a slightly raised brim and a wavy rim, and originally rested on a tall, cold-applied goblet foot, here cut to allow framing according to a collecting taste widespread during the 19th century (see in this regard F. Barbe, Su alcune cornici delle maioliche Campana del Louvre in G. Anversa, C. Maritano (a cura di), Atti delle giornate di studio in onore di Luciano Franchi. Il collezionismo fa grandi i musei. Giornate di studio sulla maiolica italiana, in "Faenza" 2020 n. 2). The ornament, made in full polychrome on a thick, rich glaze and with a brilliant glaze, shows a knight in Roman dress brandishing a sword while holding a white, bolted steed with the other hand. The scene takes place in a wide lake landscape with the sky tinged with yellow at sunset and a background of bluish mountains. On the reverse, the double row of barbells is bordered with concentric yellow lines. The pose used here for the bearded knight in the act of brandishing his sword is often found on majolica works, even of different morphology, and clearly derives from an engraving source probably inspired by the historical figure of Marcus Curtius. The crespina, which for its size and pictorial quality has few comparisons, has as its morphological exemplar a cup published in the Hamburg museum and a few other examples, including the cup with Deborah and Barak from the Jagiellonian University of Cracow (inv. no. 6684,1666/IV).