A Gubbio lustred moulded bowl, 1530-1540

the central well moulded with a bust portrait of the Virgin and child as the Virgin of San Loreto, the church itself painted among clouds beneath them, the broad rim moulded and lustred with pine cones separated by stylised plants with disc flowerheads

The central group of the Virgin and Child, in several forms, is one of the standard subjects on these moulded dishes. but its use here as the central element of the badge of San Loreto is certainly unusual.

The moulding is based upon a popular medallion of the period; see Molinier, Les Plaquettes, Paris 1886, nos. 367-371