Renaissance-style dish with Christ and Four Evangelists 1870s

This glass dish, made by the firm Salviati in Venice, showcases the revival of Renaissance style during the late 19th century. It’s made of glass, a material synonymous with Venice, a center of glass production since the 13th century. What’s interesting here is the combination of glassblowing to form the dish, and then the painted enamel decoration. The image of Christ, surrounded by the four evangelists, echoes paintings of the Italian Renaissance. The company Salviati mass-produced objects like this, combining handcraft and industrial methods, a key feature of the period. Each dish would have required a division of labor, with some workers blowing the glass, and others adding the delicate painted details. Note the extraordinary detail of the brushwork. By emphasizing the labor-intensive processes involved in its creation, we can appreciate this dish not just as a functional object, but as a testament to Venetian craftsmanship and the evolving relationship between art, craft, and industry.