Glass Cage Cup Vivas Diatretum in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 2022

Glass Cage Cup: The Vivas Diatretum
Roman, Late Imperial, blown or cast and cut, 4th century AD

On loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art from a private collection, accession # L.2014.73

This cup belongs to a rare group of late Roman glass cups and bowls made from thick blanks that are carved on the exterior with an intricate network design, often accompanied, as here, by an inscription in relief. The colorless body is encased in a translucent emerald green, providing a striking background for the decorative elements. In the Latin inscription, BIBE V[I]VAS ("Drink [so that] you may live [happily]"), the meaning of the third word, from which two letters are missing, is uncertain.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.