The Museo della Ceramica di Deruta had a nice idea for this Valentine’s Day weekend. They figured it was a good opportunity to offer a romantic visit in order to simultaneously celebrate visitors’ love of art and the timeless (and inspired!) connection of art and love.
The Museum put on “Dulce est Amare” (To Love is Sweet), a guided tour of the collection of Renaissance coppe amatorie (Love Cups, although also piatti, plates) that won this tiny village huge fame in the world centuries ago.
The coppe amatorie were beautifully decorated chalices (and plates) with women’s profiles, names, hearts, or joined hands painted on them. These were special Italian majolica wedding gifts, very popular among the wealthy families of the time. The bride and the groom would both drink from their customized coppa on their wedding day and the groom would then offer “confetti” (sugar coated almonds) from the Love Cup or Love Dish to all the guests.
Seeing these special items in the Museum’s collection is to peek into the romantic and tender moments of their Renaissance owners’ lives.
Images courtesy of www.museoceramicaderuta.it, and www.proderuta.it. Grazie!
– Contributed by Tiziana Manzetti, co-founder of thatsArte.com, a fine Italian ceramic web store and the author of the first Italian pottery Blog.
