UNKNOWN GOLDSMITH, Italian
(active mid-16th century)

Cup with Gilded Manikin Handles (detail)

around 1550
Rock crystal, gold ornaments
Galleria Palatina (Palazzo Pitti), Florence

The pair of winged grotesque figures with bifrontal heads made of gold and enamel that serve as the handles reflect the Mannerist taste for extravagance and preciousness prevalent during the reign of Francesco I de' Medici in Florence.