The Glass Ark

Tracing Murano glass art through the glass animal collection of Pierre Rosenberg, former Director of the Louvre

This publication traces the history of 20th-century Murano glass art through the motif of the glass animal. Taken from the collection of Pierre Rosenberg, art historian and former Director of the Louvre, over 750 glass animals are presented here. Some of the more famous series included are the pulegosi (bubble glass) pieces by Napoleone Martinuzzi, the birds by Tyra Lundgren and Toni Zuccheri, the Zebrati (zebra-striped) series by Barovier & Toso, and the aquariums by Alfredo Barbini.
The volume also features a vast sampling of animals made by lesser-known but equally interesting glassworks, focusing on the aspect of technical and design experimentation in 20th-century Murano glass production. The catalog also showcases sculptures by living artists such as Cristiano Bianchin, Isabelle Poilprez, Maria Grazia Rosin and Giorgio Vigna, which demonstrate the inexhaustible source of inspiration offered by the form of the glass animal.