Exhibition catalogue edited by Cristina Beltrami and Giordana Naccari

The catalogue opens with an interview revealing the spirit of the collector Pierre Rosenberg, former President-Director of the Louvre Museum in Paris, together with essays by the curators, Cristina Beltrami and Giordana Naccari, by Jean- Luc Olivié, curator of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and Rosa Barovier Mentasti, glass historian.

In the 20th-century, Murano produced a vast repertoire of glass animals, which on the one hand are fascinating because of the infinite interpretations of the subject and on the other bear witness to an age-old technique.

Glass animals are distinct from bestiaries made in other media for two main reasons: they never display fierce poses, typical of more traditional animalier sculptures, and above all they are never conceived as a toy.

This is a collection of rare eclecticism, a 'glass ark' by mixing famous pieces with others from lesser-known or even unknown glassworks, following the thread of technical quality but also of irony and a completely personal taste, far from patterns and expectations.

The catalogue includes the scientific entries of the 750 pieces on display, often linked with drawings and period photos from public and private archives.