Much as we associate the Italian Renaissance with grand architecture, massive murals, and sculptures, the era also produced the humbler but no less impressive art form known as maiolica, tin-glazed pottery. Used in everyday rituals of courtship, marriage, and death, these items range in style from folkish to ornate, and their unfading colors give these pieces a timeless quality. From the holdings of the Victoria & Albert Museum, the more than 200 illustrations here bring depth to our understanding of the Renaissance, and the book includes images from Piccolpasso's 16th-century manuscript Three Books of the Potter's Art, which clarifies how these highly valued objects were made.