Sleeping shepherdess in a moonlit landscape

Alessandro Masnago

probably late 16th century · Agate · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Gems carved with highly pictorial evocations of nature by the great virtuoso Alessandro Masnago were eagerly sought by collectors, particularly Emperor Rudolf II in Prague. The thoroughgoing artistry with which Masnago could discern the marvels inherent in a piece of stone still causes the beholder to gaze in wonder and delight at this shepherdess sleeping with her flock and her dog amid the moonbeams and treetops elicited from the hues and forms of a variegated agate, akin to moss agate.

Artist

Alessandro Masnago

Date

probably late 16th century

Medium

Agate

Culture

Italian, Milan

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

The Milton Weil Collection, 1938