15th / 16th Century Renaissance Venetian Cobalt Christ Pendant

This Renaissance Republic of Venice glass pendant was cast on the island of Murano. The pendant has been mold cast by pouring the hot molten glass into a mold with the image of Christ in high relief. In the 15th-16th century the murano glass recipe was a closely garded secret utilising quartz pebbles from the rivers Ticino and Adige. They were carefully selected to be as free from impurities as possible, then pulverized into powder and added to the glass recipe instead of the usual silica. This was unique to the Venetian glass of the Renaissance period. Venetian glass was clearly distinguishable from European glass by the presence of this quartz dust. This pendant clearly shows the dust by using a camera flash which reflects light back off the quartz specks as bright white inclusions within the glass. They can also be seen with a jewellers loupe. The pendant contains a profusion of micro bubbles typical of cast glass. As glass was expensive it would have been worn by a person of means to display wealth, faith and fashion of the Period. A stunning piece of Renaissance cobalt glass.