A DISH, CASTELLI D'ABRUZZO, WORKSHOP OF GERONIMO POMPEI, BERNARDINO GENTILI IL VECCHIO, CIRCA 1680 DISH, CASTELLI D'ABRUZZO, WORKSHOP OF GERONIMO POMPEI, BERARDINO GENTILI IL VECCHIO, CIRCA 1680 polychrome painted maiolica dish of circular form on a slightly raised foot, deep cavetto and wide horizontal brim. The polychrome decoration in large fire shows two main figures of wayfarers seated near a watercourse within a wooded landscape, and a third in the background in the act of walking, accompanied by a small dog crouched in the foreground. The brim is decorated with two nude boys holding flowering wreaths interspersed with vases and cornucopias overflowing with flowers, together with birds, animals and insects. Above is an unidentified emblem, stamped with the princely crown, while below is a fantastic female figure with her head adorned with a diadem, her right hand holding a mirror, the left a palm tree. The dish can be found in similar examples produced by the workshop of Geronimo Pompei, a descendant of Orazio, an entrepreneur rather than a majolica maker, who was employed for a certain period by Berardino Gentili and his sons Giacomo and Carmine, who share the decoration of the brim with the one under examination; diam. 29 cm, h. 4.6 cm Comparative literature C. Fiocco, G. Gherardi, G. Matricardi, Capolavori della maiolica castellana dal Cinquecento al terzo fuoco. La Collezione Matricardi , Turin 2012, p. 143 n. 99