Marriage Cup

The art of glassblowing reached new levels of artistic expressiveness in the refined products of the Renaissance, thanks largely to the technical innovations of Angelo Barovier, the most famous glassblower of the fifteenth century. Through a series of complicated operations he succeeded in obtaining a particularly pure glass, which, on account of this quality, became known as crystal. At the end of the fifteenth century, the most refined Murano glass, whether coloured or not, after having been shaped, was entrusted to painters who specialised in the art of decoration with polychrome fusible enamels and gold leafs.

Rightly considered the masterpiece of Murano glassware of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, this goblet is very simple in form but the gilt and coloured decorations are incomparably fine, with the portrait of the bride and groom set in garlands amid scenes of future happiness.