“Madonna and Child II” (2020)
By Francesca Niccacci (ca 1950 -)
6.5 x 13 x 1 in (brick), 9.5 x 15 in (wood), paint on brick
Coppola Collection

The hand-painted image of the Madonna and Child is depicted on an over 500-year-old brick. On the back “These ancient bricks come from old farmhouses of the rolling Umbrian Hills ruins or abandoned churches of the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries. Painted by Francesca Niccacci, using only 5 colors and mixed in the same renaissance method. The ancient brick is mounted on rustic wood.”

Francesca Niccacci is an internationally renowned ceramic artist living and working in Deruta, Italy. Her signature Renaissance-style portraits have a museum quality and have earned her awards and recognition. Unlike many established artists in Deruta, Francesca does not come from a family of ceramicists. She argues that a fresh start helped her choose her artistic path without constraints. After her degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Perugia, she became an art teacher. She did not stop studying, though, keen to research the influence of Italian Renaissance paintings on Deruta pottery and the styles and techniques that had made local ceramics famous worldwide.