Giorgio Andreoli

Giorgio Andreoli (between 1465 and 1470 – 1553), named also Mastro Giorgio Andreoli or Mastro Giorgio, was born in Intra, on Lake Maggiore, and died in Gubbio, where he spent most of his life, in 1555. He is considered to be one of the most important potters of the Italian Renaissance. He is famous as inventor of a particular kind of lusterware (lustro), using red and gold especially.

Dish (1525-1530) depicting Cyparissus's metamorphosis lustered by Giorgio Andreoli.

Lustre dish with the characteristic red and gold colours

In 1498, he became a citizen of Gubbio and in 1518 invented his remarkable lustre, the chief characteristics of which are its beautiful gold and carmine colors. Good examples of his majolica may be found in the local museums of Gubbio, Urbino, Arezzo, and elsewhere in Italy, and also in the principal museums of decorative art in Europe, such as Berlin, Vienna, Paris, and South Kensington.^[1]

Not all works fired with his lustre were designed by him, for potters of the neighboring cities brought their work to him to be fired. He was assisted in his work by his brothers Salimbene and Giovanni, and after his death it was continued by his son Vincenzo.

Biography

The son of Pietro Andreoli, during his youth he lived in Pavia,^[2]so much so that in some notarial acts he was referred to as “son of Pietro da Pavia^[3]”; he later moved to Gubbio (duchy of Urbino), where he is reported to have been active since 1495[3] along with his brothers Giovanni and Salimbene, also potters, and there he invented the new decorative technique to which his name is linked, obtained by applying to an already fired ceramic a film of metallic substances that, following re-firing by small fire, results in iridescent effects.

This technique was not completely unknown, in fact it was used by the Persians as early as the 8th century and later revived in Hispano-Moorish faience, but Andreoli's merit was that he succeeded in perfecting it.

The success of his work was such that from other localities known for ceramics, such as Faenza, Urbino, and Pesaro, they sent high quality pieces to be worked and decorated by Andreoli, who for a time, was also helped in his work by his sons Vincenzo and Ubaldo.^[4]

While in the early days, the workshop produced mainly tableware, later, the production range widened and Andreoli also worked as a pictorial decorator, as appears in the 1501 statuette of St. Sebastian, preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.