Description
This dish portrays Saint Jerome as a hermit, holding up a crucifix while he holds a stone to beat his breast, warding off temptation. His faithful lion friend looks more like an excited puppy. the execution shows signs of haste and there are many version of this inexpensive piece, that may have served as a kind of souvenir for the pious traveler, attesting to Jerome's popularity among Renaissance penitents. The sky in the background is dotted with gold luster, a technique adopted from imported Spanish pottery during the fifteenth century. The back is white. The dish was probably produced in Deruta, a center for maiolica production in the sixteenth century and later. For other examples of maiolica plates depicting Saint Jerome, see 48.1343 and 48.1504; for examples of Saint Jerome doing penance in other artistic mediums, see 37.543, 37.594, and 37.1089; for more information “luster” wares, see 48.1320; for “maiolica” see 48.1336.
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