DESCRIPTION: This Simplified Raffaellesco Italian dinnerware design from Biordi is elegant on it own, or when paired with the Raffaellesco Full design. ARTISAN STORY: Raffaellesco -This is Biordi’s most appreciated pattern of the classic Italian dinnerware, ceramics and pottery. The stylized dragon, seen as the central motif, was reputedly painted in the 16th century by Raphael, the master painter and architect of the Italian High Renaissance. The Raffaellesco dragon has come to be known as a benevolent deity who bestows good luck and fair winds to seagoing merchants, thus the puffs of wind steaming from the dragon’s mouth. It is hailed as one of Deruta’s most challenging designs of any Maiolica out there, as its intricacy requires an unimaginably steady hand.