Lot 480: Italian Maiolica Plaque Inscribed: "Gloriose Deo Resorgit" and (on reverse) "FZA 1537 G.N.", 16th Century

Circa 1900-1925
Attributed to Ferruccio Mengaroni, painted in a distinctive palette of blue, yellow, green and orange heightened in white with The Resurrection, the risen Christ standing on cherubs and clouds, numerous figures lying in the foreground around his empty tomb, the base inscribed Gloriose Deo Resorgit, marked on the reverse 'F'za 1537 G.N,', 30.8cm x 22.4cm (minor chips to the edge)

Ferruccio Mengaroni (1875-1925) achieved notoriety for his finely-detailed forgeries of early Italian maiolica, in particular a series of panels illustrating the Life of the Virgin taken from woodcuts by Dürer. The present panel is loosely based on Dürer's 'Resurrection' from his Passion series of 1510. A maiolica panel in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Rackham 1910, pl. 44, fig. 275) is remarkably close to our example although it omits the line of text at the base.