The design, previously unknown in Doccia porcelain, is taken from Raphael’s frescoes of the story of Noah in the third vault of the Loggia del Vaticano, commissioned by Pope Leo X.

In the inventory of models of the Doccia factory published by Lankheit two waxes are recorded, “due bassorievi tondi, il primo rappresentante il Diluvio e il secondo Noè quando fabbrica l’arca. Di cera con sue forme”. (Lankheit, 1982, p. 141 n. 130). These are no longer among the many wax models preserved at the Doccia Museum. No version of Noah building the Ark has been recorded.

I am grateful to Rita Balleri and Livia Frescobaldi for identifying the subject and the reference to the wax models. They attribute the wax to the sculptor Giuseppe Piamontini (1663-1744).

Condition:
Damaged, see conservation report

References:
Klaus Lankheit, Die Modellsammlung der Porzellanmanufaktur Doccia: Ein Dokument italienischer Barockplastik (1982)

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