The foot and dish of this tazza are decorated with tales from Ovidius’s Metamorphoses. The foot depicts the moment that Apollo embraces the nymph Daphne and she turns into a laurel tree. The dish shows a hilly landscape with Apollo on the left, Cupid on the right of the brook, and in the background the defeated dragon Python.

This type of drinking bowl emerged at the start of the sixteenth century as a utensil, but as time passed they increasingly evolved into autonomous works of art.

The silversmith Adam van Vianen was born in Utrecht, as was his brother and fellow silversmith Paulus. Even during their lifetime their fame spread far and wide for the exceptional quality of their work. Their craftsmanship was unparalleled. The items were not cast, but were pressed into form from a flat silver sheet. The fine details were subsequently refined using an chasing punch.

The Van Vianens introduced significant stylistic innovations in the jewellery craft; for example the so-called auricular ornament. This style of ornamentation is based on the folds of skin, bones and other organic elements, sometimes still recognisable as such. It is often in the form of abstract fluid decoration, as in the rim of the dish. Another progressive feature is the highly accurate rendering of the landscape, based on sketches made in the outdoors. The combination of mythological figures in realistic landscapes was also popular among painters of that period.

Jewellers added a year letter and master’s mark to their work. This mainly served to guarantee the silver content and hence the value of the item. However, Adam and Paulus saw themselves more as artists and therefore signed and dated their works in full. Their clientele consisted of worldly and religious leaders throughout Europa. They often created works on commission. Paulus, born shortly after 1570, left Utrecht at an early age. Via Fontainebleau, Munich and Salzburg he arrived at the court of Rudolf II in Prague in 1603. There he worked until his death in 1613 as Kammergoldschmied, a position of high esteem. Adam remained in Utrecht but delivered work to the same high and mighty circles. It is not known for whom this Tazza was created.