UNKNOWN GOLDSMITH, Italian
(active 1700-1701 in Florence)

Holy Water Font (detail)

1700-10
Hard stones and gilt bronze
Museo dell'Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence

Fine workmanship is evident in the heads of the two sacred figures, they are both carved from a single small block of chalcedony, whose natural colour variations, ranging from white to bright yellow, have been exalted to suggest the paleness of the faces and the blond shade of hair.