Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Tazza with Emperor Tiberius figure and dish with scenes from the life of Nero
Not on view
These tazze (45.60.58a-h; L.1999.62.1; L. 1999.62.2), originally from a set of twelve depicting the stories of Roman emperors, were likely made in Antwerp for a member of the Habsburg dynasty, who insisted on their right to rulership by claiming imperial Roman lineage. The shallow dishes would have been displayed together on a stepped buffet on special occasions. The works’ silver composition matches that mined by enslaved Indigenous workers in the South American colony of Potosí under the oppression of Habsburg-funded conquistadors, a context of production that is obscured by the tazze’s erudite decoration.
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