To visit Patrizio Chiucchiù's shop and see his work is to experience the art of majolica in its highest and most traditional form. His father molds the pottery, Chiucchiù does the painting, and his wife helps him paint the detail. Chiucchiù works largely as ceramic painters did during the Renaissance, mixing glazes from Tiber River sand and turning them into painting pigments by following a 16th-century recipe. His colors are more muted than the modern ones. Chiucchiù's painting is exquisitely fine, and he can work for 20 days on a single plate. Sometimes he replicates Renaissance pieces exactly; mostly he modifies traditional designs to make them more modern. "I often redraw the crudely drawn female faces," he says, "to reflect today's standards of beauty. (Via Mancini 6, Deruta, Umbria; 011-39-075-9724352)