Dish with arms of the Strozzi and Ridolfi families 1520 - 1535

Editor: Here we have a beautiful ceramic dish, created by Piero Bergantini between 1520 and 1535. It's currently housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The blue and white floral pattern with that striking central coat of arms is incredibly eye-catching. What does it signify to you? Curator: It's tempting to see it purely as an object of decorative art, but in Renaissance Italy, such a dish held significant social meaning. These weren't just for show. Can you imagine this displayed prominently at a formal event, perhaps a wedding feast uniting powerful families? Editor: Oh, right! So it's about signaling status and alliances. The title does mention "Strozzi and Ridolfi families"... Curator: Exactly! This particular dish commemorates a union between the Strozzi and Ridolfi families, two influential Florentine families. The coat of arms at the center is a combination of their heraldic symbols, visually representing their alliance. Think of the politics embedded in this ceramic piece, produced no doubt to satisfy wealthy patrons who supported specific political structures! Editor: So the act of commissioning and displaying this dish becomes a performance of power? A Renaissance flex, maybe? Curator: Precisely! And the museum acquiring, preserving, and displaying such pieces continues that performance, though perhaps with different intent. Consider the narratives of wealth, power and historical narrative museums curate. Do museums inadvertently reinforce certain class structures and exclude others from art history? Editor: That gives me a lot to consider. This piece is more than just pretty colors, and I see that now. Thanks. Curator: Indeed! It encourages us to contemplate who gets to create history, who gets to preserve it, and whose stories are valued in the present day.