Roberto Aloi, L’Arredamento Moderno, Edizione Hoepli, Milano, scheda 15.

It is a unique masterpiece of Murano glass art, the result of the work of the furnace opened in 1946 by Gino Cenedese under the artistic direction of Alfredo Barbini. The best glass masters of the time worked in that furnace.
The glass block represents the first successful experiment of the submerged glass technique, from which the long Murano tradition was born. Maestro Cenedese sold this work around 1950, and from that moment it has not been moved further, thus preserving it intact for over 70 years.

Having been presented at the 1948 Venice Biennale, it was included in Roberto Aloi's collection, and only thanks to this was it possible to reconstruct its history.The Biennale of '48 was the first since the end of the world conflict: together with other cultural events of the time, it was certainly a way of celebrating the life and rebirth that Italy and Europe hoped for after so many years of war. Cenedese and Barbini probably wanted to pay homage to moeca and cuttlefish, two indigenous creatures of the Venetian lagoon, which certainly contributed to the survival of many people during the very difficult years of hardship and deprivation that have just passed.