Marriage cassone

The small cassone, constructed using dovetail joints, features carving decoration on three sides in a recessed form. This decoration is partly pyrographed and filled with dark or colored pastes, enhancing the contrast of the figures on the surface. The cabinet’s original lid is missing, and the original lock, removed at an unspecified time, has been replaced by a wooden insert to cover the gap.The front panel is adorned with an outlining band featuring plant motifs that divides the space into two rectangles. These are separated by a wood-turned shield, surmounted by a feline figure, which likely once displayed the owner's family coat of arms, now illegible. Each rectangle portrays courtly scenes, including pairs of ladies and knights engaged in conversation or exchanging kisses under the shade of large, densely foliaged trees.
The shorter sides of the cabinet are adorned with garlands intertwined with branches and leaves. The piece is obviously a nuptial chest, as can be seen from the romantic nature of the depictions. This specific decorative technique, which originated in northern Europe and spread to the Trentino, Veneto, and Friuli regions between the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, allows us to attribute the cabinet to northeastern Italy in the late-fifteenth century. Early museum guides (Hermanin 1948, p. 362) attributed this cassone to a Veronese context, suggested by the presence of an animal interpreted as a dog in the crest. The attribution to the “Pisanelli school” was based on the resemblance of the garments worn by the characters depicted on the front to those in works by Pisanello. These fashions are characteristic of broader fifteenth-century courtly attire: women typically adorned their hairstyles by using ribbons to gather their hair, leaving their foreheads exposed, while men wore hats featuring wide, puffy brims.
The decorative motifs found in fifteenth-century textiles serve as the foundation for the floral and foliar patterns that populate the backgrounds, inspired by Nordic models in all likelihood disseminated through the fabric and embroidery trade. Comparable to the cassone housed in the Palazzo Venezia Museum are other Italian examples, such as a larger piece in the Museo delle Arti Decorative at the Castello Sforzesco in Milan, featuring analogous chivalric scenes arranged in a similar bipartite layout (Colle 1966, pp. 133–135, cat. 160). Another example with green wax inserts, previously attributed to Brescia’s fifteenth or early sixteenth-century, is located in the Castello Cini in Monselice (Pedrini 1948), sharing thematic front decoration. Additional comparable instances can be found in Schubring (1915, table CLVI, fig. 724), Colombo (1975, fig. 3), and Alberici (1980, pp. 28–29, figs. 31–34).

Lorenzo Mascheretti

Entry published on 27 March 2025

Good.

In 1984, the Gabinetto di Restauro of the Museo di Palazzo Venezia restored the cassone. This involved the removal of the lid, the lion’s paw feet, and the frame that had previously covered the original base—components added during an earlier restoration before the Museum acquired the piece. The wood was meticulously cleaned and reinforced where necessary, and the remaining traces of color were also carefully consolidated.

Rome, Ditta B. Tartaglia,  before 1920;
Rome, Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia, purchased 1920–1923.

Schubring Paul, Cassoni. Truhen und Truhenbilder der italienischen Früh-Renaissance Ein Beitrag zur profanmalerei im Quattrocento, Leipzig 1915, tav. CLVI, fig. 724;
Hermanin Federico, Il Palazzo di Venezia, Roma 1948, p. 362;
Pedrini Augusto, Il mobilio, gli ambienti e le decorazioni del Rinascimento in Italia, Firenze 1948, p. 100, fig. 263;
Colombo Silvano, L’arte del mobile in Italia, Milano 1975, fig. 155;
Alberici Clelia, Il mobile veneto, Milano 1980, pp. 28-29, figg. 31-34;
Massafra Maria Grazia, Riguardo ad alcuni cassoni conservati nel Museo di Palazzo Venezia in Roma, in Tampone Gennaro (a cura di), Legno nel restauro e restauro del legno, Atti del congresso nazionale (Firenze, 30 novembre-3 dicembre 1983), Milano 1983, p. 291, fig. 6;
Colle Enrico, Museo d’Arti Applicate. Mobili e intagli lignei, Milano 1996, pp. 133-135, cat. 160.