The Historiated, The Majolica That Told Stories

The art of representing the ‘historiated’ is certainly one of the most distinctive elements of Ferruccio Mengaroni’s productions, for which he became known way beyond its local borders.
The artist was able to faithfully replicate works kept in public and private collections, re-adapting them for concave and convex surfaces, re-adapting important paintings mediated by graphical inventions to drawing and prints, but also by modern photographic reproductions that he carefully archived.

To inspire him there were various painted representations of historical, mythological, biblical and literary episodes, just as various famous paintings of the Renaissance, that he was able to translate in real masterpieces thanks to bold compositional solutions: a famous example is the majestic amphora representing the Last Judgement by Michelangelo, a real ‘artistic manifesto’ of Mengaroni’s great skill, wise inventiveness and proven genius.

Often Mengaroni tried to re-interpret the historiated, creating works in which the story is placed on the inside of complex geometrical and decorative depictions, in a mixture of styles and chromatic layers that becomes his own style. An experimental work of his that sees him attempting in the miniaturization of narrative passages for the creation of precious brooches and beautiful pendants is also present.