THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY brought two developments which transformed the arts in England. First the redistri- bution of the wealth of the monasteries gave ambitious men the means of expressing their social position in houses and material possessions. Secondly, the arrival of renaissance ideas and designs from Italy, via France and the Nether- lands, boosted by the application of printing to the pro- duction of ornament designs towards the end of the fifteenth century, gave such men a new repertoire of ornament with which to impress their peers. Whether they were seized upon in a spirit of emulation or simply because they abounded in novelty and exoticism, these ornament prints - particularly, it seems, those originating in Antwerp - made a very considerable impact on architectural decor- ation and the applied arts in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. In architecture they were used as a veneer on carcases which often retained their familiar and comfortable late-medieval form; in the decorative arts, they enabled native-born designers to ape fashionable continental products. The tapestries woven in the Eliza- bethan Midlands, when read in terms of the designs that inspired them, offer a valuable insight into the contem- porary creative process.

THE reputation of Pieter van Roestraeten has suffered greatly from wrong attributions. For many years vanitas still life paintings of a rogue type have been ascribed to him- dull, repetitious, mediocre works usually showing a scattering of scholarly objects over a tabletop draped with a turkey carpet. All too frequently they have nothing to do with Roestraeten's authentic output of fine still lifes, compositions of highly-wrought silver and gold objects, and later of Chinese porcelain and tea things.

A NOTABLE example of English upper-class interest in the barometer - which had been forcefully expressed by Roger North as early as 1676, three years after its invention' - is the so-called 'Belhus Barometer', now on display in the eighteenth-century galleries of the Victoria and Albert Museum (Fig.25). This 'outstanding example of English talent in the marriage of applied science and applied art',derives its name from the Essex manor for which it was commissioned by Thomas Lennard Barrett, later 26th Baron Dacre (1717-87). The Barrett family had inhabited the area of Essex around Aveley since the thirteenth century, but Belhus Manor was Tudor in origin: John Barrett, who died in 1526, refers in his Will to 'my place called Belhouse Hall, alias Barrett's which I have newly builded'.

Mosr of what is known about Malvasia's connexions with the French intellectual delite and with Louis XIV himself is based largely on circumstantial evidence, a few indirect testimonials and Malvasia's own statements. The most solid piece of evidence is a jewel that Louis gave to Malvasia in acknowledgment and appreciation of the latter's dedication and gift of the Felsina Pittrice. It is known as 'il Gioiello della Vita' because Malvasia bequeathed it to the Bolognese church of S. Maria della Vita, where it has been shown once a year, on 10th September, since he died. In 1985 the Bolognese authorities took charge of it out of concern for its security, and since 1986 it has been on permanent display in the Collezioni Comunali d'Arte in Palazzo d'Accursio.

THE virtuosity with which Piranesi combined elements from ancient Egyptian, Etruscan and Roman art in the plates illustrating his Parere su l'Architettura of 1765 is acknowledged by scholars such as Jonathan Scott.' Yet hitherto it does not seem to have been noticed that the rich vocabulary so brilliantly deployed in the Parere derives not only from the larger monuments of classical architecture and sculpture but also from the miniaturist art of engraved hardstones. This is shown by a preparatory drawing for Plate V of the Parere2 in which are delineated four cameos and intaglios (Fig.28). These were in the collection of Piranesi's fellow Venetian, the art dealer and connoisseur A.M. Zanetti (1698-1767), and had been published fifteen years previously by A.F. Gori in his Le Gemme Antiche di Anton-Maria Zanetti (Venice 1750).3 They represent Minerva (Plate XXXVII), a Giant (Plate XXXIII; Fig.30), a tiger (Plate LXV; Fig.29) and two dolphins (Plate LXVII). The Minerva is a sardonyx cameo depicting the goddess as she was venerated in the statue raised to her cult at the Temple of Sai in Egypt: she is veiled, not helmeted, and her attribute, the owl, is beside her. The aqua- marine intaglio of a snake-legged Giant, lion-skin over his arm, defending himself with two stones is compared by Gori to 'gli Eroi armati di doppio scudo ne'sepolcri antichi degli Etruschi'. It is inscribed AIOC, as if signed by the famous artist Dioscourides, patronised by the Emperor Augustus. Although Gori applauds the quality of the engraving as 'perfetto e squisito lavoro' this abbreviated signature (not illustrated by Piranesi) indicates that the gem is not ancient).4 Zanetti acquired it from the Parisian collector Pierre Crozat in exchange for six rare Roman gold coins.5 The moss agate tiger which Gori said was 'unico al mondo' has a realistically spotted coat, and is crouched ready to spring. It too has an interesting provenance, being a gift from Cardinal Alessandro Albani (1692-1779) to Prince Eugene of Savoy, chosen on the advice of the papal antiquary Marc- Antonio Sabatini. Zanetti obtained it from Prince Eugene's niece after his death.6 The agate double dolphin cameo- which Piranesi reproduces twice, to each side of the base of the tiger cameo - was given to Zanetti in 1736 by his friend Antonio Bertoli (1677-1743), court painter to the Hapsburgs.