Swaths of blue paint contrasted with white form the lotus motifs on a porcelain bowl placed prominently in Giovanni Bellini’s Feast of the Gods from 1514 (Plate V). This material translation – ultramarine blue and white pigments on a canvas parading as a ceramic vessel in the visual codes of mimesis – parallels the sorts of cultural translation and material metamorphosis that took place when Chinese porcelain made its way into the collections of the Italian princely elite. In the painting, attention is also drawn to other materials, such as the crystal jug being filled with water by the young Bacchus, highlighting the glass blower’s virtuosity as much as the painter’s ability to render its translucency. Bellini’s painting allows the viewer to contemplate the paragone, the comparison of the arts, drawing attention to the technical skills that are required to make works of art – whether ceramic vessels, crystal vases or the mimetic possibilities of painting. Indeed, once one notices the various vessels littering the scene, it is hard to ignore them. They range from the more mundane such as the terracotta water jug on top of the head of a nymph, to the latest invention of chalcedony glass and the highly prized three porcelain pieces that the painting is famous for. As is well known, this work was part of a series of paintings made for the collections of Alfonso I d’Este, Duke of Ferrara. Taking in all the paintings made for the space, one becomes overwhelmed at the material culture that floods the scenes. The physical ceramics, glasses and other vessels that were on display throughout Alfonso’s camerini, as this chapter argues, are central to understanding the function of these collecting spaces and in turn, transform our interpretation of the purpose of these paintings.