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Patanazzi.
Italian family of potters. They were a dominant force in the production of maiolica in Urbino during the late 16th century and early 17th. Four members of the family signed their work, and dates range from 1580 to 1620. Antonio, Alfonso, Francesco and Vincenzo were involved in the family business, although Alfonso is also known to have painted in another workshop. The Patanazzi succeeded the renowned workshop belonging to the Fontana family and it is often difficult to differentiate between their wares, especially those of the period 1570 to 1585. Maiolica decorated with istoriato (narrative) scenes or figures with grotesque borders on a white ground rose in popularity during the mid-16th century. By the 1580s these were the most popular ceramics in the Urbino area, overshadowing the earlier, purely narrative wares. The Patanazzi embraced this decorative style, developed by Raphael, which combined human figures with fanciful monsters, cameos, garlands and other motifs found in the recently discovered ruins of ancient Rome. The wares of the Patanazzi, which are remarkably consistent in style, are characterized by cursorily drawn, seemingly boneless figures, a palette dominated by blue and brownish orange and strong, dark outlines. Their work never reached the artistic heights of the istoriato maiolica of the 1530s and 1540s, however, and the standard of the later wares deteriorated significantly. In addition to plates and jars, the Patanazzi produced such elaborate modelled items as wine cisterns (e.g. of 1608 from the workshop of Francesco Patanazzi; London, BM), inkstands and salts, which imitated the increasingly Baroque forms of contemporary silverware. They also manufactured large sets of apothecary jars for the pharmacies of Roccavaldina, near Messina, Sicily, and the Santuario della Santa Casa in Loreto, as well as the important ‘Ardet Aeternum’ service (part destr.; some items in London, BM), which was probably made for Alfonso II d’Este (ii), Duke of Ferrara and Modena, and Margherita Gonzaga at the time of their marriage (1579).
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