Bust of a bacchante

Nicola Morelli

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In these cameos of devotees of Bacchus, Nicola Morelli, a shrewd judge of the coloristic capacities of hardstones, did not merely copy himself: In the gem on the left (40.20.44), with a goatskin and more complex tresses, he exploited four strata, the topmost being the pink of the grapes. In that on the right (40.20.45), in three layers, he investigated the uppermost layer of brown to define the grapevine against the pallid flesh of the girl, who seems even less in control of her senses.

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