Italian Renaissance and Hispano-Moresque lustre-decorated majolicas: imitation cases of Hispano-Moresque style in central Italy

An investigation was carried out on Renaissance lustre-decorated majolica shards, found during excavations made in Umbria (central Italy) and defined by experts, on the ground of the surface decoration, as imitations of the Hispano-Moresque style. A comparison between this particular kind of samples, produced in central Italy, and some Hispano-Moresque lustre shards has been performed. The ceramic bodies as well as the lustred surfaces have been analysed by means of several techniques: inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic absorption spectrometry with electrothermal atomisation and scanning electron microscopy. By means of XRD analysis the presence of cosalite (Pb2Bi2S5) has been disclosed in the Italian lustre decorations but was not observed in the Hispano-Moresque ones. A hypothesis has been made, considering bismuth as a discriminating element. between lustres produced in central Italy and the Hispano-Moresque ones. We thought that the Italian artisans were able to manage the use of bismuth. Therefore a recipe. quite similar to the one employed by the Spanish artisans, was used by the Italian ceramists if their aim was to imitate the Hispano-Moresque style.