The lustres of Gubbio (Fig. 219) are inseparably associated with the one great name of Giorgio Andreoli, or, as he is usually called, Maestro Giorgio. He was a native of Pavia, and was originally a sculptor; and after he went to Gubbio, in 1498, executed some works in the Della Robbia style (Fig. 209). A piece dated 1489, and signed “Don Giorgio,” is ascribed to him while he was still at Pavia, but the first piece characteristic of the master, signed and lustred, is dated 1519, and the last 1541. We have said that Xanto of Urbino lustred his own pieces, but the matter is not free from doubt. Maestro Giorgio certainly was master of the art of lustring, and the brilliancy of his ruby reds, copper, and mother-of-pearl is unrivalled. But the statement of many writers that artists at other places sent their works to Gubbio to be lustred, and allowed Giorgio to affix his name to them, is too repulsive to be accepted without protest or reservation. One can hardly imagine a more unworthy course than that ascribed to Giorgio, of laying aside his proper artistic functions and becoming merely a decorator with lustres, “indifferent,” as Marryat says, “by whose hands they were executed or from what fabric they proceeded.” It is in this capacity of decorator that the otherwise finished paintings of Xanto and others are said to have been sent to him to be enriched with lustre. The earlier Gubbio wares generally have a pale-blue ground, with grotesques and scrolls terminating in animals’ heads, and mingled occasionally with cherubs’ heads. The grounds afterward became more brilliant, and the designs include mottoes and busts in celebration either of the great men of the time or of its fair ladies. It is to be noted that Giorgio lived before the accession of Guidobaldo II., and consequently did not partake of the benefits enjoyed by the Fontana family at Urbino. [Illustration: Fig. 218.--Urbino Pilgrim’s Bottle. (South Kensington Museum.)] [Illustration: Fig. 219.--Lustred Gubbio Vase, of about A.D. 1500. (South Kensington Museum.)]