Majolica

Majolica began as a technology: tin-opacified glaze that created a brilliant white surface perfect for painting. The technique traveled from the Islamic world through Spain to Italy, where Renaissance potters transformed it into high art. Urbino and Faenza became centers of istoriato ware—elaborate narrative scenes covering entire plates, painted in brilliant cobalt blue, copper green, manganese purple, and antimony yellow. Every plate told a story: classical myths, biblical scenes, contemporary events. The tradition spread to Spain and then to Mexico, where indigenous potters merged it with pre-Columbian traditions to create Talavera.