If you’ve never watched an art documentary by Waldemar Januszczak, I highly recommend them. Especially his series on epochs of art. He takes some getting used to. We started out calling him the World’s Most Emphatic Art Historian. Once we saw more, it became Wally the Angry Hobbit. With affection.
It was in his series on the Renaissance that I was introduced to Bernard Palissy.
His pottery is filled with lizards, snakes, and frogs, often molded from specimens.
The symbolism is intended to remind us we are all born of sin. Well, you know, Renaissance. He lived a long and interesting life, dying in the Bastille at the age of 80. He totally deserves a biopic. For now, we can just admire his art.
