Blog: Discover Italy

For centuries, the small Umbrian hill town of Deruta, Italy, has been celebrated for producing some of the world's most beautiful hand-painted ceramics. Walk through Deruta today and you will still find ceramic workshops where artisans transform simple pieces of earthenware into brilliantly colored plates, bowls, platters, vases and decorative objects. Many of the techniques—and even some of the designs—have roots stretching back hundreds of years. Known particularly for its maiolica …

The Raffaellesco pattern, renowned for its central motif of the benevolent dragon, surrounded by intricate floral arabesques in a bright color palette of yellow, blue and green, is one of the most famous and enduring styles of Italian Deruta ceramics. Originating in the 16th-century, the Raffaellesco decoration takes its name and inspiration from the “grotesque” style of the famous Renaissance painter Raffaello Sanzio, otherwise known as Raphael. In Italian “grotesque” is …