Estimate

6.000 - 7.000

Session 2

27 October 2026

Description

Depicting Saint Paul at prayer in a landscape, with rosary and skull, after an engraving by Francesco Villamena (1566-1624), dated 1613, based on a composition by Ferraù Fenzoni (1562-1645)

Italy, first half of the 18th century

(restorations)

31×19 cm

Additional Information

Bartolomeo Terchi (1691-1766) is regarded as one of the most significant figures in the production of Italian istoriato maiolica during the first half of the 18th century. His activity is documented from 1717 in San Quirico d'Orcia, where he worked within the sphere of the Chigi manufactory, later continuing his career in Siena and Lazio. His work is frequently characterised by figural compositions derived from Renaissance and Baroque engravings.

The present plaque has until now been identified as depicting Saint Jerome. However, the discovery of the engraving that served as its model allows the figure to be recognised as Saint Paul the First Hermit. The composition closely follows an engraving executed in 1613 by Francesco Villamena (1566-1624), after a composition by Ferraù Fenzoni (1562-1645), in which the figure is explicitly identified as “S. Paulus Primus Eremita”.

The direct use of engravings as sources for maiolica decoration is documented in Terchi’s work. In Maiolica in the Making: The Gentili/Barnabei Archive, published by the Getty Research Institute in 1999, Catherine Hess illustrates a plaque signed by Bartolomeo Terchi at Bassano Romano and dated 1739, whose decoration derives directly from an engraving also reproduced in the publication. The identification of the graphic source for the present composition is therefore consistent with a known practice of the artist and provides an additional element to be considered in relation to the traditional attribution to Terchi, although it does not in itself constitute conclusive proof of authorship.