Wineglass

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

During the Renaissance, Venetian glassmakers, working on the island of Murano, were celebrated across Europe for their fine and sparkling work. Called “cristallo” emulating the clarity of rock crystal, in the hands of the most skilled glassblowers the medium could be delightfully manipulated, variously stretched paper-thin flat, or playfully twisted, or blown into molds with spectacular patterns.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art