Now Open
Saint-Porchaire Ceramics: Rediscovered Treasures of the French Renaissance
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
230 S Columbus Dr, Chicago, IL 60603
Mon 11–5, Tue Closed, Wed 11–5, Thu 11–8, Fri–Sun 11–5
Admission
🎁
Free Admission
Exhibitions are free with museum admission.
About
Exquisitely crafted and shrouded in mystery, Saint-Porchaire ceramics are among the rarest treasures of the French Renaissance. Only around 70 examples are known to exist worldwide, and each one dazzles and intrigues with its refined and delicate modeling and astonishingly intricate decoration. Created between about 1520 and 1570 and closely associated with the royal courts of François I and Henri II, these extraordinary works bear the emblems of power, prestige, and desire—including the interlaced cipher of Henri II and his famed mistress, Diane de Poitiers.