A Documentary Venetian Renaissance Dish in The British Museum

The author describes a Venetian glass dish in The British Museum that has, at its center, the enameled arms of Fabrizio Del Carretto, grand master of the Knights of the Order of St. John on Rhodes from 1513 to 1521. In addition to its close dating, the dish is unusual because it bears the arms of a second member of the Knights of St. John, Fra Muzio Costanzo of Naples. This suggests that the dish may have been part of a set of luxury dining wares given by Costanzo to the grand master and made between 1513 and 1521. The article discusses the dish in detail and analyzes its significance as a document both for the history of the Order of St. John and for the history of Venetian glass during the Renaissance.