Maiolica Bottle Compendiario Style Central Italy XVII-xviii Century

A compendiaria majolica bottle, probably from a central Italian factory, rectangular in shape. On one side, it features a rather rare depiction of the martyrs Saints Felix and Adautus.
It dates back to between the 17th and 18th centuries.

It is in excellent condition, except for some firing defects, visible in the photos.

Felix and Adautus are a pair of Christian martyrs, perhaps killed during the Diocletianic persecutions. Their cult as saints dates back to at least the 4th century and is documented in a poem dedicated to them by Pope Damasus I, who also oversaw the monumentalization of their tombs in the cemetery of Commodilla on the present-day Via delle Sette Chiese near the Via Ostiense.

Damasus's eulogy describes them as brothers; According to a later (7th-century) legendary passio, however, Felix was a priest condemned to death for refusing to sacrifice to idols. While he was being led to the place of execution, another Christian confessed his faith and suffered the same sentence. Since the other martyr's name was unknown, he was called adauctus, meaning "added."

The underground basilica of Saints Felix and Adauctus in the cemetery of Commodilla was built during the pontificate of John I.