Design for a Glass (?) Ewer

Stefano della Bella

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This drawing shows the side elevation of a ewer, likely intended to be executed in glass. On the left, a delicate handle takes the shape of a swan attacking a serpent. The side of the ewer shows a ram’s head, while the front is decorated with a chimeric hybrid creature with wings and a bird-like head. The left and right side of the design further show variant ideas for the surface treatment of the ewer. The drawing is finished with a light blue wash that was likely applied to suggest that the ewer was meant to executed in glass. It is part of a group of twenty similar drawings that have traditionally been counted as the work of the prolific Italian artist Stefano della Bella. However, the distinct execution with the blue wash has also given rise to the idea that they were executed by another artist, who is therefore referred to as 'The Master of the Blue Wash'.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art