FORNASETTI ZODIAC PLATES – ”TEMA E VARIAZIONE”

Images courtesy of Fornasetti

In the Form of Twelve Porcelain Plates to Collect and Give as Christmas Gifts

Within a month we shall reach the glorious festive seasons. So what’s new from Fornasetti?

The signs of the zodiac first became part of the Fornasetti universe in 1951, when Piero Fornasetti decorated the Zodiac suite of the liner Andrea Doria. In this first-class cabin, every component of the furnishing featured astronomical themes, from the walls, ceilings, and doors to the armchairs and bedspreads; all hand-printed by the Milanese Atelier.

Piero transferred the constellations onto plates, ceiling lamps, paperweights, trays, and other everyday objects. The idea of applying the signs of the zodiac to the ‘Tema e Variazioni’ series came to him in the 1980s, a time when this famous series of plates featuring the enigmatic face of opera singer Lina Cavalieri already numbered over three hundred variations.

Presented by Coulisse | INK

The variation featuring the sign of Aries, which until now remained nothing but a drawing, has been recovered by Barnaba Fornasetti, bringing to fruition a project initiated by his father forty years ago by creating the twelve ‘Tema e Variazioni – Zodiaco’ plates.  This a testimony both to Fornasetti’s inexhaustible creativity and to the longevity of this Fornasetti “Mona Lisa”, which has been depicted in ever-changing ways since the early 1950s.