The State Hermitage Museum: Virtual Tour

22:The Room of Drawings

Bowl made of Revnev jasper

1816-19

Kolyvan Lapidary Works

This immense jasper bowl became the prototype for the famous Kolyvan Vase. It was designed by Giacomo Quarenghi (1744-1817) while the accompanying bronze work was devised by Carlo Rossi (1775-1849). The stir that this bowl caused in its time is evident from the delighted exclamations of contemporaries: "This piece , rare in size and in the beauty of its decoration, is a single product of nature and art."

Drawings to be found in albums indicate that Rossi intended to cover the whole lower half of the bowl in an elaborate ornament of gilded bronze. When the bowl was brought to St Petersburg, however, the appearance of the stone evidently persuaded him that this was unnecessary. The large undulations of the intermittent pattern were so attractive that to cover them with bronze would have meant diminishing the overall aesthetic impression.