Desco da parto

DEFINITION

Italian for "commemorative birth tray."An example: Giovanni di Ser. Giovanni (called Scheggia) (Italian, Florentine, 1407-1486), The Triumph of Fame; (verso) Impresa of the Medici Family and Arms of the Medici and Tornabuoni Families, birth tray, c. 1449, tempera, silver, and gold on wood; overall, with engaged frame, diameter 36 1/2 inches (92.7 cm); recto, painted surface, diameter 24 5/8 inches (62.5 cm); verso, painted surface, diameter 29 5/8 inches (75.2 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. This desco da parto was commisioned to celebrate the birth of Lorenzo de' Medici, known to posterity as Lorenzo the Magnificent (1449-1492).Also see commemorate.