This is the Deruta par excellence decoration. The stylised dragon was originally part of the anthropomorphic figures (grotesques) found in Nero’s Domus Aurea, discovered and brought to light again at the end of the 1400s.
Raffaello Sanzio (1483-1520) and his master Pietro Vannucci, known as "The Perugino" (1448-1523) reused the same figures to decorate their frescoes. Deruta ceramists in turn transferred the grotesques onto ceramics – particularly the dragon, symbol of good fortune and prosperity – figuring them on their products and giving rise to the splendid decoration that most famously distinguishes ceramic production in Deruta.