Venetian Glass Dish with the Portrait of Roxelane
Venice, Mid 16th century
Cold painted glass, verre églomisé, gold-plating
44,0 cm
Inv.-Nr. G 553
From the Royal Collections of the House of Wittelsbach
Gallery 22
This glass dish with the magnificent portrait of a woman, which was applied using the reverse glass painting technique, from the Wittelsbach collection is the most important example of Venetian glass art at the Bavarian National Museum. The portrait resembles a woodcut of Matteo Pagano published in Venice ca.1550 and has been identified as the portrait of Roxelana (ca. 1507 - 1558), the wife of Sultan Süleyman I, the Magnificent. A total of 30 to 35 Venetian dishes with reverse glass paintings have been preserved, mostly depicting mythological scenes inspired by engravings of Raphael’s contemporaries – Marcantonio Raimondi in particular. The representations of large-format portraits, such as the Roxelana dish, are rare.
des Bayerischen Nationalmuseum
des Bayerischen Nationalmuseum
