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Crystallus, Rock-crystal

Crystallus, Rock-crystal Page of 453 Crystallus, Rock-crystal Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
CRYSTALLUS.
181
perhaps a bust in full relief, works of which examples are not wanting, the most famous being the Odescalchi bust of Venus, nearly six inches high, in the best antique manner. On the other hand, it was the material in which the chief artists of the early Eenaissance executed their most important works. Their intagli were not, like those of the ancients, confined to the small dimensions of signet-stones, but were designed to be worn as medallions, to bo set in plate, or to form the panels of reli­quaries or caskets (being laid upon a coloured ground), for all which uses extent of surface and transparency were the greatest recommendations. The fame of Valerio, il Vicentino chiefly rests upon his large plaques of Crystal engraved with intagli of numerous figures done in his own peculiar and forcible style, of which numerous specimens, due to his incredible industry through the course of a long life, are everywhere to be seen in collections. The most important of these was the coffer adorned with the History of the Passion, a commission from Clement VII. at the pr'ice of 2000 gold scudi, designed for a present to Francis I., on their interview at Marseilles to arrange the marriage of the Dauphin with Catarina dei Medici. Vasari especially com­mends the Crystals of Gio. del Castel Bolognese, particularizing as his best the Tityus, after the design of M. Angelo, and the Ganymede engraved for the Card. Ippolito dei Medici. Another famous work of his was the Attack on the Castle of Bastia, done for Duke Alfonso of Ferrara. A Lion-hunt by him now in the Devonshire Collection fully justifies the encomium of Vasari. These plaques are usually of considerable size, one in the Uzielli Collection measuring 3-1/4 x 2-1/4 inches. Mariette says that the Tityus and the Fall of Phaethon were executed after designs fur­nished by M. Angelo, and suspects that Perin del Vago supplied those for his scenes from the life of Christ adorning the bases of the Cross, and two candlesticks presented to St. Peter's by the Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, his latest and chief patron.
Smaller intagli of this date in Crystal are sometimes found in jewelry set with the engraved side downwards upon a gold or an azure foil. The effect thus produced is very singular, the designs appearing as though cut in relief upon a transparent gem, a Topaz, or a Sapphire, and the deception so perfect as only to be
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