GLEAM OF GOLD. BLAZE OF COLOURS. THE ART OF REVERSE GLASS PAINTING

Reverse paintings on glass form a diverse miscellany of objects in the collection of historical glass of the Museum of Decorative Arts, with a total of 387 items dating from Late Antiquity to the nineteenth century. The collection encompasses brilliant works of art from most major European production centres of reverse paintings on glass, mainly from Venice, Tyrol, Lombardy, Nuremberg, Zurich, Naples and Augsburg. The most valuable Renaissance paintings are represented by the works of Hans Jakob Sprüngli (1559–1637) from Zurich and by the miniature paintings of the anonymous “Master VBL”. The Baroque era is illustrated by the art of the Dutch painter Gerhard Janssen (1636–1725), Kunštát-based Daniel Preissler (1636–1733), or paintings from eighteenth-century workshops in Augsburg. Considerable attention has been directed towards “folk” paintings of this type. However, this book focuses on works from courtly circles and the burgher class, which preceded these folk creations and which were often accorded prominent spots in the collections of nobles and even emperors. This book characterises the collection in the context of its history and also presents research on this specific form of art alongside a chapter devoted to the intricacies of its conservation penned by the leading Czech glass conservator Eva Rydlová. The catalogue of works contains physical descriptions and bibliographical references to scholarly literature and is further enriched with notes on the templates and original sources of inspiration of individual reverse glass paintings.

Publisher: Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague
Lead author and editor: Helena Brožková
Special consultancy: Jana Černovská
Editing: Eva Rydlová
Contributers: Helena Brožková, Eva Rydlová, Jana Černovská; Helena Koenigsmarková
English edition
Size: 24,5 x 21 cm, softback
Number of pages: 272
Number of figures: 163
Number of copies: 200 ks
ISBN 978-80-7101-189-7

Prize (in UPM): 440 CZK