This bronze oil lamp, the so-called 'Cadogan Lamp' is in the form of an ancient galley, on the sides of which are groups of sea gods and medallions and on the cover is a statuette of a cupid mounted on a dolphin. Many oil lamps have decoration that carries symbolic meaning and is now difficult to interpret. Here one side shows the Fall of Ignorant Humanity, in the form of a fat woman flanked by two females. The other, with a youth blowing a horn into a billowing sail, represents the motto 'make haste slowly'. Usually described as a galley, this ship is in fact a fantastical vessel.

Though a functional object, this elaborate lamp is above all a work of art, designed to take its place alongside other collectibles in a scholar's study that would have primarily been illuminated by candlelight.

Riccio was trained as a goldsmith and lived and worked all his live in Padua. Today he is acknowledged as one of the greatest bronze sculptors of the Renaissance.
His statuettes, functional objects, like oil lamps, and reliefs reflect his inimitable ability to express the most refined humanist ideas prevalent in the Veneto in bronze.
He was also a specialist in rendering themes of classical mythology.
His oeuvre is sometimes overlooked because of its small scale, but it constitutes one of the most fascinating manifestations of the poetic paganism of the High Renaissance.