Lapidary art is the skilled craft of cutting, hollowing-out and polishing rare semi-precious stones such as rock crystal, chalcedony, lapis lazuli, jade, jasper and heliotrope.

This lecture follows a story spanning some two centuries and several generations of a family – the Miseroni – who first emerged in the mid-15th century working in the goldsmiths’ quarter of Milan. Gasparo, Girolamo and Ottavio Miseroni achieved brilliant success as lapidary artists in Italy and in Prague, supplying patrons from the royal and noble courts of Europe with magnificent vessels enriched in precious gold.