Italian, probably 19th/ 20th century

Private collection, until 2002

These sumptuous alabaster vases embody the taste for rich ornamentation and colour in Baroque Rome. With their voluminous, undulating shapes, they recall the vogue for playful forms during this period, as exemplified by Gianlorenzo Bernini's use of solomonic columns for his Baldacchino in St Peter's Basilica. The use of urns or vases to adorn great palaces ultimately has its roots in the discovery of ancient Roman cinerary urns, the best examples of which are carved in marble or alabaster, but which were more commonly made from glass, and are found in a variety of shapes, but are largely characterised by their broad sides and shallow lids. Such urns were placed in palatial interiors in the Eternal City, a vogue which spread across Europe thanks to the Grand Tour. The present vases find their inspiration in antiquities such as the large 1st-century cinerary urn, found in the abbazia delle tre fontane (via laurentina), in the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome (inv. no. 135737).

RELATED LITERATURE

R. Gnoli, Marmora Romana, Roma, 1988, fig. 226 and fig. 229