Osservazioni Sopra Alcuni Frammenti di Vasi Antichi di Vetro

Illustrations of glass vessel bottoms in Roman catacombs
Adoption Amount: $450
Category: Preserve for the Future
Location: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Library

Osservazioni sopra alcuni frammenti di vasi antichi di vetro ornati di figure trovati ne'cimiteri di Roma ...

By Filippo Buonarroti. Firenze: Nella stamperia di S.A.R. per Jacopo Guiducci, e Santi Franchi, 1716.

Observations over some Fragments of Ancient Glass Vases Ornamented with Figures Found in Rome Cemeteries is the work of Filippo Buonarroti (Florence, 1661- 1733), an early scholar of Etruscan art and antiquities, studying the collection in the family palazzo-museum, Casa Buonarroti. He made a study of the bottoms of Roman gold glass vessels that were used as grave markers on the walls around the burial niches of catacombs in Rome. Buonarotti included many illustrations of these decorated pieces and fragments of glass, many of them showing portraits of the gravesite owners. The Christian catacombs are important in the study of early Christian art, as they contain the great majority of examples from before about 400 AD, in fresco and sculpture, as well as gold glass medallions. Buonarroti also talks about related finds of ivory and vases from the catacombs.

Condition and Treatment: 

This is an early 18th century volume half bound in leather and marbled paper. The cover is abraded and the leather is lifting off in places. The book is housed in a slipcase that is too small for the book. Conservators will attempt to consolidate the lifting leather and create a double-tray box to properly house this volume.

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