Plate with a Portrait of a Gentleman (c. 1525–30): Art, History and Details

Plate with a Portrait of a Gentleman (c. 1525–30) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Italian nobles of the 1500s often expressed their wealth, social status, and sophistication by ordering large sets of maiolica that sometimes carried their coats of arms or even likenesses, usually in profile similar to portrait paintings of the period. Reserved for use at festival events such as a wedding or commissioned to mark a special occasion or an important visit, elaborately decorated utilitarian vessels in maiolica were prized as works of art by their owners and displayed as such in their residences.

Object facts

• Title: Plate with a Portrait of a Gentleman
• Date: c. 1525–30
• Culture: Italy, Faenza, 16th century
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)
• Dimensions: Diameter: 28.1 cm (11 1/16 in.)
• Collection: Decorative Arts
• Department: Decorative Art and Design
• Accession number: 1923.1087

A detail from the museum

The gentleman featured in the center of this plate wears a chaperon, a type of hat that first became popular during the 1300s.

Collection credit

Gift of M. & R. Stora

Further reading listed by the museum

• No existing citations

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.