made at Rome, Italy
This maiolica jug was made at Rome in Italy around 1606.
The jug is decorated in polychrome with a saint, possibly St Bernard of Clairvaux, holding a crozier and book within a circular cartouche edged with tongue and dart pattern. The rest of the surface is covered with a symmetrical grotesque design, winged female figures, swags and flags and two sparrows above the cartouche.
St Bernard of Clairvaux is much represented in counter-Reformation painting. As an early Doctor of the Church he may carry a book or the crook-shaped staff of a bishop or abbot. However, he is usually shown wearing the white habit of the Cisterian order.
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