This dissertation concerns the intersection of literary culture and luxury ceramics production in the Duchy of Urbino during the first half of the sixteenth century. Urbino was the foremost site of istoriato maiolica (narrative-painted earthenware) production in sixteenth-century Italy. These works were painted with episodes from the Bible, classical history, and mythology, including many subjects that were rarely depicted in other media. As they were made by non-elite artists for aristocratic consumption, they provide rare evidence for the reception of classical literature across social strata and in diverse environments.I assert that the diverging interpretive strategies of rulers and artists resulted from different educational practices. The aristocrats of Urbino, much like other sixteenth-century patricians, received an education that focused on Latin literacy, rhetorical structures, and the derivation of virtuous exempla from literature. In contrast, ceramics painters developed their knowledge of ancient literature through self-guided reading of vernacular adaptations, informal conversation, and printed images. As an essential part of this project, I compiled and analyzed metadata from about 450 istoriato works from museum collections in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Italy. I use the dataset to contextualize the content of three “armorial” istoriato tableware services that were commissioned by Urbino’s rulers for Isabella d’Este, the marchesa of Mantua (1524); Duke Anne de Montmorency, a French general and counselor of King François I (1535); and Cardinal Antoine Duprat, the chancellor of France (1535). By comparing these services to each other and the larger sample of istoriato dishes, I reveal the complex intertextuality of these compositions in ceramic and the diverse interpretations afforded by the medium. This is the first extensive study of Renaissance ceramics and literary culture. Moreover, I am the first scholar to employ metadata analysis to contextualize specific maiolica services within their broader regional and chronological settings. I demonstrate the invaluable and original insights that European ceramics bring to the social history of art, as well as the ways in which future art historians may turn to data-driven methodologies in order to advance our understanding of such works.