ALBARELLO, VENICE, WORKSHOP OF MASTRO DOMENICO, 1570-1575 CIRCA in polychrome painted majolica; h. cm 30,5, mouth diam. cm 12, base diam. cm 12,5. base cm 12,5 A PHARMACY JAR (ALBARELLO), VENICE, WORKSHOP OF MASTRO DOMENICO, CIRCA 1570-1575 Comparison Bibliography C. Ravanelli Guidotti, Ceramiche occidentali del Museo Civico Medievale di Bologna, Bologna 1985, p. 112 n. 87; R. Perale, Maioliche da farmacia nella Serenissima, Venice 2021, pp. 120-136 The cylindrical vase, tapering at the centre, rests on a flat base, without glaze, The foot is low and expanded, the shoulder is rounded, the short neck opens into a circular mouth with an everted, short and slit rim. The ornamentation, on a thick, clear glaze with a shiny, slightly cracked glaze, follows the traditional setting: at the centre of a medallion the representation of a Dominican saint, three-quarter-length figure, facing left, holding a book with his right hand under his cloak and with his left hand a small radiating disk (monstrance); painted with calligraphic skill and illuminated with white tin, the figure stands out against the white background of the enamel surrounded by a band of white dashes followed by a yellow and orange band, included in a dotted frame. All around is the classic foliate and floral decoration with whorls, corollas and small fruits on a thick blue background and thin scratches. The albarello, which stands out for its size and pictorial quality in the making of the small figure, could be the work of the imaginary "painter of the small saints", a personality who can in any case be included in the sphere of masterly depentors, as recent studies on Venetian pharmacy maiolica remind us.