Standing cup with cover

Stephanus Weltzer II

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

On top of the lid sits winged Cupid, the god of love, who may have played with his well-known (but here lost) attribute, an arrow. The stem statuette in the form of a boy holding up an apple could refer to Adam and the biblical story of the expulsion from Paradise. Seen together, Cupid, the apple, and the abundance of flowers and foliage signify vanity and the passing of earthly pleasure. Until recently, the only works by Stephanus Weltzer II that were known are two chalices in ecclesiastical treasuries.

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