Description
“In those days, all homes were furnished with large carved wooden chests, lined with linen or silk to store clothing and precious objects.”
Deeming them worthy of the greatest attention, Vasari distinguished them under the name cassone.
This elongated chest in carved walnut rests on two lion’s paw feet at the front, echoing the form of an ancient sarcophagus — a hallmark of Italian Renaissance design.
Rising from a base adorned with a fine row of rudented glyphs, framed between a billet frieze and another of scales, two lateral uprights feature leonine mascarons supporting abundant foliate trophies.
The central panel unfolds into three molded frames adorned with a domed mirror carved from a cartouche with a cut-out leather motif. The central one is decorated with shells in profile, and appears like a medallion. A beautiful ivy frieze frames the cartouches.
The single-piece top is surrounded by a beautiful frieze of gadroons with a listel and acanthus leaves at the corners, highlighting all the ornamentation of the cassone.
Two beautiful lanceolate handles adorn the sides of the Cassone, recalling the primary function of the chest, namely to be mobile and transportable from one home to another.