Making Beauty

de Tomaso Montanari, Dimitrios Zikos

The porcelain of Doccia made its mark on the history of artistic manufactory with its refined production inspired by Antique masterpieces. The catalogue, rich with illustrations, accompanies the exhibit staged by the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, providing useful tools for visitors so as to reconstruct and examine the development of the artefacts of this particular production technique, in general, and specifically to trace the history of the Doccia manufactory's success. The essays are divided in two parts: the first reconstructs the history of the manufactory opened by the Marquis Ginori in 1735 and the state of art produced in studios of porcelain. The second provides a series of case studies dedicated to the more interesting themes regarding the reproduction in porcelain of great ancient sculptures, as well as some more significant works realized by the manufactory, like the Tempietto of Cortona or the great Fireplace. The catalogue concludes with a series of entries elaborating on the 17 works featured in the exhibit. Exhibition: Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, Italy (18.05.-01.10.2017).