Deruta patterns: The Singing Rooster

Giuliano de' Medici was awakened by a rooster

and for one time could escape murder.

At CAMA DERUTA one of the traditional patterns was the green rooster. We have always wondered about its origins, especially if we think of pitchers shaped as roosters.

The story we hear in the States is that Giuliano de' Medici from Florence in the Renaissance period was awakened by a rooster and therefore he could escape being murdered.

The story is probably true because Giuliano de' Medici went under several attempts of murder in the city of Florence as well as in the countryside, where he had been hiding from enemies.


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Giuliano de' Medici was the brother of the famous Lorenzo de' Medici and he was only sixteen when their father Piero died.

Indeed the two brothers took over the power in the city of Florence right after their father's death and opponent parties tried to kill them several times.

In 1478  the "Pazzi" family conspired against Giuliano and Lorenzo in repeated attempts to eradicate their power. On one of these occasions, Giuliano was murdered in the Cathedral of Florence, and his brother Lorenzo was left wounded. Giuliano was only 25 years old when he died.

Coat of arms of Giuliano de'
Medici's family. 

The reaction of the city of Florence was unexpected towards conspirators. The population of Florence got furious and attacked the Pazzi family's members as well as their accomplices with heavy consequences. As a result, the Medici family remained in power. 

However, with the death of Giuliano de' Medici, the flourishing Renaissance world of arts lost one of his most passionate and youngest partons. 

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If we think of Greek mythology , the rooster is the sacred symbol of Mercury and we feel this adds meaning to our curiosity: Rooster=green= good luck. Green is also the color of Venus, it means beauty.

The singing rooster can be found on vintage Deruta plates with a note of the pentagram ("DO di petto= C in English). Color variations of the rooster pattern are red and blue. But green is still the predominant color. 

This pattern is also known as the "Orvieto" pattern because it is dedicated to the town of Orvieto, where there is a ceramics tradition producing a distinctive green leaves pattern. Deruta artists added the rooster to the original Orvieto leaves pattern in the 1920s, a very fertile revival period of Deruta ceramics. The Green Rooster pattern is the most medieval of all Deruta patterns because it carries fewer colors than the Renaissance traditional patterns, namely Ricco Deruta and Raffaellesco. 

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The Cama rooster pattern is the best! It is painted by my father Renato who has learned from the great artists of Deruta. The rooster is lively just like my father's personality. There is lots of love in it! Renato Niccacci is also the artist of Arabesco Verde and Siena black and white designs.

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posted by Roberta Niccacci

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