Do you remember us talking about the famous Milan workshops of Miseroni and Saracchi – and the splendid pieces they carved out of rock crystal? Well, here you see a rock crystal bowl in the shape of a shell, ornamented with a dolphin, and it’s the work of Giovanni Battista Metellino – the last great Milanese stone-cutter in the tradition of Miseroni and Saracchi.
Metellino’s works impress with their size, their fine cut, their three-dimensional figures, as well as the added ornamentation and mounts in silver-gilt and lapis lazuli. Typical of Metellinos’s Baroque style is the way his shell-like bowls are supported by three-dimensional fish or dragons. The bowl you see here is encircled by the tail of a dolphin, which looks more like a dragon’s. The dolphin’s head rises above the bowl. The stone-carving is technically perfect, and the design is full of wonderful tensions.
In 1715, August the Strong sent his secret chamberlain Alfonso to Italy. Part of his mission was to acquire contemporary art works made of rock crystal. Alfonso sent them back over the Alps in the sort of cases displayed in this room. They included no less than ten decorative bowls by Mettelino which you can still see in the Green Vault. We have here the most significant collection of Mettelino’s work in the world.
Die Details entdecken
Shell-shaped bowl with dolphin
Shallow bowl with handels
Dolphin head made of rock crystal
