The history of glass and glass-making is shown here through 400 works from ancient times to those created using the latest technology. Glass is the guiding motif of a journey through time, space, and the various cultures that have interpreted and used this material over the centuries. The volume gathers together rarities and masterpieces of glass art from important public and private collections of antique, modern and contemporary glass, including the Musee du Louvre in Paris, the Kunstmuseum of Dusseldorf, the Archaeological Museum of Cologne, the Archaeological Museum of Barcelona, the Archaeological Museum of Spalato and the National Gallery of Antique Art in Rome. From the precious and significant collection of Roman glass discovered during excavations in the necropoleis of Aosta Valley, to two recently restored, valuable historiated stained glass windows from Aosta Cathedral, to the creations of great masters such as Carlo Scarpa, Alfredo Barbini, Flavio Poli, Stanislav Libensky, Jaroslava Brychtova, Richard Meitner, Fulvio Bianconi, Napoleone Martinuzzi, Bertil Vallien, Lino Tagliapietra, Gaetano Pesce and Ettore Sottsass.

In the area of contemporary art there are works in glass by Arman, Joseph Beuys, Louise Bourgeois, Daniel Spoerri, Wim Delvoye, Chen Zhen, Gio Pomodoro, Gilberto Zorio and many others. It studies in greater depth some themes which have emeged over the centuries: symbol and myth, nature and everyday life and many others alternate in an itinerary made up of 10 thematic rooms: from the Room of Water to the Room of Nature, the Room of Play to the Room of Geometry, the Room of Fragments to the Room of the Orient, the Room of the Body to the Room of the Sacred and Profane, and from the Room of Everyday Life to the Room of the Fantastic. The volume is completed by the Techniques and Materials Section, presented by Anna Geotti, which follows the various steps in the glass making process, from the raw materials to the latest generation of technological glass products and ends by examining the relationship between glass and ecology.