DESCRIPTION

This Madonna & Child Tile is hand-painted by Susanna DeSimone at her family's historic studio — Fabbrica della Ceramica — in Palermo, Sicily. It is a contemporary continuation of the Italian Catholic devotional ceramic tradition that has been part of Sicilian craft for centuries, rendered in the joyful cubist line and vivid Sicilian palette Susanna DeSimone's family has been known for since her father Giovanni DeSimone worked alongside Pablo Picasso in the mid-20th century.

Each Susanna DeSimone piece is hand-crafted, hand-glazed, and hand-painted in Palermo. Because the work is fully handmade, no two pieces are ever identical.

The small imperfections such as the difference in color, shape, diameter or small bubbles that form inside, do not constitute a defect but testify that it is actually an artisanal product.

Specifications

Pattern: Madonna & Child Tile — a Susanna DeSimone original
Material: Hand-painted Sicilian majolica (tin-glazed earthenware)
Made in: Palermo, Sicily
Artisan: Susanna DeSimone, Fabbrica della Ceramica
Care: Display piece · Dust with a soft, dry cloth · Not dishwasher safe
Signature: Signed by Susanna DeSimone; bears the "Fabbrica della Ceramica" studio mark

Questions buyers ask

Is this a good religious gift?
Yes — this is a traditional Italian gift for baptisms, first communions, confirmations, weddings, Christmas, and Easter. Susanna DeSimone's joyful, brightly-colored interpretation makes these contemporary heirlooms that work in modern Italian-American homes as well as more traditional ones.

Is this hand-painted in Palermo?
Yes — every Susanna DeSimone piece is hand-crafted, hand-glazed, and hand-painted at Fabbrica della Ceramica in Palermo, Sicily. Nothing in this collection is mass-produced or imported from elsewhere.

What's the difference between Susanna DeSimone and Giovanni DeSimone?
Giovanni DeSimone founded the studio in mid-20th-century Palermo and worked alongside Pablo Picasso, who shared his innovation of using bright red in glazed ceramics. Susanna DeSimone is Giovanni's daughter and continues the studio today, now operating as Fabbrica della Ceramica. She paints in a similar cubist-folk style as her father but with her own contemporary palette and signature.

Why buy Italian gifts from Biordi rather than other retailers?
Biordi Art Imports has been San Francisco's source for authentic Italian ceramics and gifts since 1946. Voted Best Overall Retailer in the San Francisco Bay Guardian Best of the Bay readers' poll for five consecutive years. Designated a San Francisco Legacy Business (#LBR-2020-21-029), and the city declared May 1 "Biordi Art Imports Day" in 2021. Every piece comes from a named Italian artisan, family workshop, or heritage house we work with directly — FIMA, CF Deruta, Pia Formato, Eugenio Ricciarelli, Susanna DeSimone, Geribi, Bucci Ceramiche, Ortigia Sicilia, Italesse, and Salviati. So each piece is genuinely one-of-a-kind. Not a stock-photo listing, not a mass-produced import, not a reproduction.

ARTISAN STORY

The Susanna DeSimone artistic tradition was founded in Palermo, Sicily, by her father Giovanni DeSimone — a renowned and innovative artisan known for intense colors and a cubist drawing style similar to Pablo Picasso. Early in his career, Giovanni DeSimone worked alongside Picasso, and the two shared an innovation: the use of bright red in glazed ceramics, which Picasso loved. "I express what comes through my imagination, filtering old and new memories, comparing my experiences and my understanding," Giovanni DeSimone wrote in 1991.

Biordi Art Imports was the first US distributor of Giovanni DeSimone's work — a relationship that began in the studio's earliest years in America and continues today with his daughter, Susanna DeSimone, who carries the tradition forward. Her limited production bears her signature alongside the studio's new name, Fabbrica della Ceramica.