Dish with Saint Clare

This small dish depicts Saint Clare of Assisi (Italian, 1194 – 1253) standing between Saint Peter and a female martyr saint. This dish is one of thirteen known ceramic objects signed by Baldassare Manara, a member of a family of potters from Faenza. All of his signed works are istoriato (historiated) wares, depicting scenes from history, myth, or religion.Clare was an early follower of Francis of Assisi. As a young woman, she rejected her family’s wealth and founded a religious order of women who embraced lives of poverty and prayer. Here, the painter has emphasized her pious imitation of Christ. Clare holds a banner inscribed in Latin that reads PETRE DILIGIS ME (“Peter, do you love me”), a quotation by Jesus from the Gospel of John. Her lily represents purity, while the book symbolizes devout contemplation and her black veil refers to her austere religious community. In her other hand she holds a pyx containing the consecrated host for mass. This refers to an important episode in which Clare saved her convent by praying and displaying the host in front of marauding soldiers. Above, two winged putti carry a shield marked with a cross, two nails, and the inscription “Mo. Co.” This likely relates to the dish’s original owner.