Lot 23. A façon de Venise reverse-painted glass picture, circa 1570, Innsbruck or Hall-in-Tyrol. Estimate £10,000 - 14,000 (€11,000 - 16,000). Photo Bonhams.

depicting the Adoration of the Magi, Joseph standing before an impressive table covered in a cloth edged in gold, the Christ child in his arms, the three Magi before him presenting gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh whilst Mary looks on, the scene set within a crowded interior and framed within a formal border, wooden frame, 25.2cm x 19.6cm visible image

Notes: Reverse Paintings on Glass: The Ryser Collection (1992) illustrates at p.16, fig.7 a related panel of the Descent from the Cross attributed to Hall-in-Tyrol. Two further 16th century panels, of St Jerome and Christ Bearing the Cross, are in the Corning Museum of Glass. In the Museo Vetrario in Murano a plaque of the Supper at Simon's House has also been ascribed to the mid-16th century, see G Mariacher, Italian Blown Glass (1960), pl.58.

Ryser notes convincing circumstantial evidence that these so-called 'Venetian Panels' and a number of related reverse-painted dishes originated in Hall-in-Tyrol. Unlike later glass pictures, these panels were individually cast or formed rather than cut from larger panes of glass, resulting in their irregular edges and uneven, striated surfaces. 

Bonhams. BRITISH AND EUROPEAN CERAMICS AND GLASS, LONDON, KNIGHTSBRIDGE