Display plate

The romantic 19th century attributed the name ‘Venetian-Saracen’ to the group of bronze and brass objects to which this large display plate belongs. A Levantine product, therefore, but marketed and then replicated by Venetian merchants and artisans to satisfy the massive demand for exotic luxury crafts that characterised the European courts of the late Renaissance.

Sylvia Auld’s recent research has made it possible to distinguish three historical phases of the creation of these objects¹. A first nucleus was executed in North Africa during the last years of the Mamluk Sultanate (c. 1450-1517) and is characterised by the use of geometric decorations, forms of European inspiration and the absence of inscriptions².

A second group, produced expressly for export, is recognisable by the presence of silver inserts. A third group, to which the dish discussed here belongs, was made by Venetian masters who imitated Arab products and is distinguished by the adoption of freer decorative models directly inspired by Western canons, with rigid compartmentalisation of the ornament that enhances, rather than hiding, the forms of support³.

In our case, the bare-breasted Sphinxes and Venuses arranged along the outer edge of the front are typically Venetian. The frieze, with acanthus leaves, masks and cherubs, is also Western, so that of the original ‘Saracen” inspiration only the materials and the execution technique survive⁴.