Wash-hand basin (Lavabo) Venetian Sculptor

The wash-hand basin carved from white marble was used for liturgical purposes: prior to the mass, the priest would wash his hands in the basin in the vestry, doing so as a symbol of inner purification. The basin was made in the early sixteenth century by an unknown master who seems to have been inspired by motifs used in Pietro Lombardo’s workshop. The basin’s surface is divided into three fields; on the two sides there are goblets filled with fruit, while the middle section is decorated with foliage coming from the mask of a man and ending in flowers and leaves, as well as with a bird motif.