What a Renaissance plate reveals about a woman who shaped literary history

The plate made for Isabella d’Este-Gonzaga in 1524. V&A, CC BY-NC-ND

The expression is: “handed to you on a silver plate”. But a recent breakthrough came to me on a painted ceramic one. Following the clues on that plate led me to solve a small historical puzzle: who once owned a Renaissance manuscript now held in Paris.

Known as a maiolica, the plate features three different imprese: that is, emblems used during the Renaissance as personal badges. Under a coat of arms is a music scroll...