View source for Maiolica

'''Maiolica''' has been defined as “[[Italy|Italian]] [[tin-glazed]] [[earthenware]] dating from the [[Renaissance]]". The name is thought to come from either [[Majorca]], an island on the route for [[ship]]s that brought [[ceramics|ceramic]] ware to Italy from [[Spain]] ([[hispano-moresque]]) in the 1400s, or from the Spanish term ''[[obra de Malaga]]'' that means to describe something as “imported [[Malagan]] wares". During the Renaissance, the term Maiolica referred solely to [[lusterware]], including both Italian made and Spanish imports, but eventually the term came to be used when describing ceramics made only in Italy, lustered or not, that were earthenware covered with a tin glaze . The tin glaze produced a brilliant white when fired, giving artists an opaque surface to [[paint]]  over.

==References==
*"Marvels of Maiolica: Italian Renaissance Ceramics from the Corcoran Gallery of Art" by Jacqueline Marie Musacchio. Bunker Hill Publishing, 2004
*“A Guide To Looking At Italian Ceramics" by David Harris Cohen and Catherine Hess, J. Paul Getty Museum in association with British Museum Press, 1993
[[category:artefact (medieval)]]