Pretiosa Vitrea: The Art of Glass Manufacturing in the Museums and Private Collections of Tuscany (Bilingual Edition: English & Italian)

Pretiosa Vitrea, whose title is inspired by the Latin definition of glass, explores the history of glass manufacturing in Tuscany. Superb objects, beautifully photographed, reveal treasures from museum and private collections throughout this Italian region, including archeological findings of Roman glass, glass cameos from Torrita di Siena, and chrysography--calligraphy written in gold ink and suspended in glass--from Arezzo. Illustrations depict the evolution of mass production techniques, from the use of molds to the discovery of glass blowing in the middle of the 1st century BC.