Pallisy- Dish with Pamono

Bernard Palissy was born around 1510 in the small town of Agen where he learned skill in art. For fifteen years, Palissy experimented and studied local earthenware clay bodies and every natural material he could think of. His experimentation eventually lead his family to poverty.

When Palissy found out how to improve the local earthenware his luck turned around and he found his fortune and he had a following of artist who became part of his school of Palissy.

During this period of Renaissance came a renewed interest in the natural world as observed through human experience. Men of learning, including Palissy, felt it was possible to understand the world around them from a blend of religious, scientific and imaginative perspective, creating a beauty that rivaled nature. He lived in this atmosphere of observation, discovery, and scientific method, but was extremely passionate for art.

The platter seen above is influenced by Palissy and illustrates the rustic and formal aspects of a French garden. Pomona, goddess of gardens and orchards, is the central figure in the scene, gardener tools are at her feet, while in the background is the fruit of her labor; a formally landscaped group of parterres centered on a water feature. In the middle ground, a peasant works the soil and two women carry bounty from the garden on their heads.