Scratched engobed ceramic bowl

Description

Bowl number 4, from the Borgo San Lorenzo manufactories active between the 15th and 17th centuries, features a symbol that looks very familiar. Although there is no certainty, we cannot help but think that the coat of arms depicted does not resemble that of the Medici Family. But what do we know about their coat of arms? First, it features 6 bisants or balls, initially all red, on a gold field. Then, according to a legend first reported in writing by Cosimo Baroncelli, a relative of Giovanni de' Medici, there was once a giant Mugello in our territory that terrorized the population. The oldest ancestor of the Medici family, Averaldo, commander of Charlemagne's army, decided to confront him. During the confrontation, Mugello thrust his toothed club into Averardo's golden shield: the bisants of the coat of arms, therefore, would be nothing more than the imprints left by the giant's club on the knight's golden shield. Averaldo defeated the mythical figure, and the distant ancestors of Cosimo the Elder and Lorenzo the Magnificent decided to move to the now free and safe territory of Mugello. True, this is still a legend. It may be more likely that the representation of the coat of arms derives from the Arte del Cambio to which the powerful family had been enrolled since the late 1300s. This in fact features, on a vermilion field, gold bisants. The Medici may, simply, have decided to reverse the colors as a sign of complementarity.