Giovanni Giardini, the leading silversmith of his day, was probably commissioned by a cardinal or a member of Rome's aristocracy to make this stoup (holy water receptacle) for a sumptuous chapel.
Giardini skillfully combined elements of Baroque painting and sculpture in his design. The oval relief of the Madonna and Child, Joseph, and a young John the Baptist is adopted from 17th-century paintings. Contrasting with this meditative scene are golden bursts of light and angels seemingly suspended in midair--dynamic features seen also in the work of the famous Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
Only a few examples of Giardini's work remain, because much Roman silver was confiscated and melted down by the French under Napoleon. Giardini's silver is known primarily through a publication of 1714 illustrating one hundred of his designs for secular and ecclesiastical objects.
cxd
<P>Giovanni Giardini, the leading silversmith of his day, was probably commissioned by a cardinal or a member of Rome's aristocracy to make this stoup (holy water receptacle) for a sumptuous chapel. </P><P>Giardini skillfully combined elements of Baroque painting and sculpture in his design. The oval relief of the Madonna and Child, Joseph, and a young John the Baptist is adopted from 17th-century paintings. Contrasting with this meditative scene are golden bursts of light and angels seemingly suspended in midair--dynamic features seen also in the work of the famous Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini.</P><P>Only a few examples of Giardini's work remain, because much Roman silver was confiscated and melted down by the French under Napoleon. Giardini's silver is known primarily through a publication of 1714 illustrating one hundred of his designs for secular and ecclesiastical objects.</P>
Context
false