Silvana Geminiani - Panel - Refined polychrome high-relief ceramic plaque. - Saint George and the Dragon

Silvana Geminiani, 'San Giorgio e il drago' – faentine ceramic plaque in polychrome high relief, 1984

Refined ceramic plaque in polychrome high relief, signed S. Geminiani, attributable to the production of Silvana Geminiani, Faenza ceramist active in the second half of the twentieth century and an interpreter of a cultured, narrative ceramic strongly tied to the Romagna artistic tradition. The subject clearly recalls the iconography of Saint George and the Dragon, a theme with ancient fortune in Christian and chivalric tradition, symbol of the victory of good over evil, here reinterpreted with a lively, decorative, and almost fairy-tale language.

The composition is set with a remarkable sense of drama: the horse, modeled in brown with light-blue harness, occupies the right side of the plaque, while the knight, dressed in warm tones of ochre yellow and white, advances with the lance toward the green dragon, rendered with a bulky body, curved tail, and clawed legs. The strongly raised relief gives movement and depth to the scene, turning the ceramic surface into a small plastic narrative. Particularly successful is the contrast between the brightness of the glazes and the light background, animated by subtle material irregularities that enhance its artisanal character.

The work testifies to the quality of Faenza ceramics in the Eighties, capable of uniting technical skill, popular taste, and ancient iconographic references. The ceramist’s hand is recognizable in the freedom of modeling, in the pleasant asymmetry of the form, in the vivid colorfulness and in the ability to render a traditional subject with an immediate, elegant, and personal tone.

On the back is the handwritten inscription “Dono della Cassa Rurale Artigiana di Forlì, Natale 1984”, an element that precisely documents the dating and the Romagnolo context of the work.

A decorative ceramic piece of great personality, interesting both for collectors of Faenza ceramic art and for those seeking a authorship object with a strong, rare, and pleasantly narrative iconographic subject.