A good Deruta maiolica plaque dated 1586

A good Deruta maiolica plaque dated 1586, depicting the Madonna and Child after Benedetto di Maiano, the infant Jesus seated on a cushion and clutching the ends of his mother's veil, which entwine around his body, Mary gently extending a hand to restrain his playful exuberance, painted in a simple palette of blue, green, ochre and umber, dated 1586 to the bottom right corner, 44.6cm x 36cm.

This plaque directly copies Benedetto's Madonna and Child of 1490, including the depiction of an elaborate patterned background. Benedetto's plaque was bequeathed to the Metropolitan Museum in 1941 by George Blumenthal.