Vermeer Paintings Glass Drink Coasters with Metal Holder, Set of 4

Decorate your coffee table with glass drink coasters by your favorite Northern Renaissance masterpiece artist - Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675). Each drink coaster shows a different famous painting - Girl with the Pearl Earring, The Milkmaid, Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window, and a street scene. The colors are vibrant and will add a pop of color to your table setting. Part of the Parastone Museum Gift Collection of European designed gifts inspired by the beauty of art through the ages. Each set has four different paintings about an artist or theme. Each round glass coaster measures 3 7/8 inches x 3 7/8 inches x 1/8 inch thick. Weighs 1.2 lbs for the set. Bottom has four rubber feet to protect your table and prevent slipping. Comes with a metal storage rack.

Although Vermeer is now considered one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age, very little is known about his life. Initially, Vermeer painted large history pieces as did many of his contemporaries. However, he soon focused on the interiors which would later make him famous. He was commissioned to create the latter by a select group of collectors. The works were expensive because Vermeer could paint no more than three of them per year. He was rapidly forgotten after his death, only to be rediscovered in the 19th century.

• Size: 3 7/8" x 3 7/8" x 1/8 thick
• Weight: 1.2 lbs
• Material: Glass with Metal Storage Rack
• Made In: China

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Museum Reproductions Information:

History of Art Reproductions: As far as we know, the history of art reproductions takes us back to Imperial Rome where bronze and marble reproductions of Greek masterpieces served as decoration for lavish Roman Villas and Gardens. The art of casting is thousands of years old: Terracotta’s, Bronzes and ancient glass were cast from molds. Closer to our time in the mid 18th century coinciding with the search for new artistic styles which took inspiration from the roots of classic art (neoclassicism) and the discovery of Herculaneum in 1738 and Pompeii in 1748, archaeological reproductions reappeared all over Europe. As a result of French expeditions to Egypt during the nineteenth century, a casting facility was set up next to the Louvre Museum where many important archaeological pieces from ancient Egypt were reproduced. Following the example of the Louvre, other leading European museums began to reproduce some of the masterpieces in their collections thus initiating a trend that continues until today.

Art Reproduction Craftsmanship: For the making of art reproductions, masterpieces have been chosen from the best museums all over the world, The Louvre, The British Museum, The National Museum of Athens, The Egyptian Museum Cairo, The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. We only use materials and techniques that can achieve the best quality in reproducing original works of art to obtain very fine pieces, up to the last detail. Our sculptures are cast in a variety of mediums: Bonded Stone, Polyresins, and Bronze. The finish of each reproduction, is always hand-made and showing craftsmanship and historical sense, is the work of an artisan. It is the task to present to the people of today the legacy of those ancient civilizations with all the beauty and mystery of our ancestors again in front of our eyes and at the reach of our hands. There is several steps that must be taken before a museum reproduction sculpture can be made. Most of our items are original artworks created by our sculptors, carved out of clay, stone, or wood. Once the original is carved, a mold is made, usually out of silicon. Crushed stone in a liquid resin medium is poured into a silicon mold where it solidifies into a hard stone that reproduces all the detail and texture of the original. All the finishes are done by hand. Many finishes include color detailing, a labor intensive process where colors are applied with small brushes by our skilled artisans.