Marriage cassone

The cassone, constructed from spruce wood (Corona 1979, p. 41), features simple moldings framing the side panels. It has painted decorations that are in good condition following restoration by the ISCR. The front portrays a flowery meadow created with swift, repetitive brushstrokes resembling stamping, populated by animals including birds (a hoopoe, a pheasant, a parrot) and a rabbit. At both ends are two coats of arms with horse-headed shields within knotted garlands. The sides, equipped with wrought iron handles for lifting and transporting, were originally decorated with painted rosettes. Of these, only the one on the left is still clearly visible; the one on the right is almost entirely worn away, revealing no preparatory layers beneath the paint film and indicating that the decoration was applied directly to the wooden surface.
The lockable flap lid and the back side are undecorated; the interior has a single compartment with a small box on the right side, possibly added later. The wrought iron hinge hardware is worked at the ends with a lanceolate motif. The millefleur decoration suggests a love garden, and the presence of allegorical animals indicates that the cassone was originally meant for a wedding occasion and was made for the marriage union of two spouses belonging to the families indicated by the coats of arms mentioned above. The one on the left—divided into an upper part with an eagle on a gold background and a lower part with alternating gold and checkered bands—corresponds to the husband’s family due to its position and can be identified with the coat of arms of the Federici family of Val Camonica (see OA report of the work in the Archivio Storico of the Museo di Palazzo Venezia), as confirmed by a comparison with the version of the same fresco in the church of Santa Maria in Esine in the province of Brescia.
This esteemed family, known for their ancient Ghibelline allegiance, had connections with various other families not only in Val Camonica but also in Valtellina and the Veneto, even extending relations to the Scaligeri. The cassone under consideration is indicative of one such alliance, identifiable through the wife’s coat of arms. These objects, which were likely commonplace in the noble households of the time and used to store the bride’s trousseau upon her relocation to her new home, have further evidence among the Federici, particularly a cassone preserved in the Raccolte del Castel Sforzesco in Milan, adorned with an image of Saint George and the Princess (Rosa 1963, cat. 21). The inclusion of the imperial eagle in the Federici coat of arms, bestowed along with the comital title in 1411 (Sinistri 1975, p. 19), helps date the work in the Museo di Palazzo Venezia to the latter half of the fifteenth century.
A similar timeline had been noted in the documentation when the piece was added to the museum collections, initially attributed to the fifteenth-century Ferrara area (Steiner, Del Puglia 1963; Ghelardini 1970), but later revised towards Verona (Hermanin 1948, pp. 54-55, 364). Identification of one of the coats of arms now situates the work in a northern context (Colombo 1975), between Lombardy and the Veneto, supported by a comparison with another cassone decorated with nearly identical naturalistic motifs, which appeared on the antiquarian market in 2015 (Sotheby’s, Master Paintings, New York, June 4, 2015, lot 22).

Lorenzo Mascheretti

Entry published on 27 March 2025

Good.

In May 2005, a gas disinfestation procedure was conducted at the Museo Nazionale degli Strumenti Musicali in Rome.

Inside, on the flap lid: blue pencil inscription reading “Com 858”; printed label reading “Com 858,” which both refer to the Comitato per l’esecuzione dei lavori di Palazzo Venezia (Committee for the execution of works at the Palazzo Venezia). The committee was established on November 29, 1924 to refurbish the palazzo as a series of state rooms for the Mussolini government (Nicita 2009, p. 318).

On the front, on the left: coat of arms of the Federici family of Val Camonica; on the right, unidentified coat of arms.

Rome, Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia, 1930; 
in Hermanin 1948, p. 364 it is said to have been purchased in 1925.

Hermanin Federico, Il Palazzo di Venezia, Roma 1948, pp. 54-55, 364;
Corona Elio, Le segnature di Landshut nell’abete rosso cisalpino, in «L’Italia Forestale e Montana», 34 (1), 1979, pp. 37-42;
Rosa Gilda, I mobili delle civiche raccolte artistiche di Milano, Milano 1963, p. 23, cat. 21;
Steiner Carlo, Del Puglia Raffaella, Mobili ed ambienti italiani dal gotico al floreale, I, Milano 1963, fig. 151;
Ghelardini Augusto, Il mobile italiano dal Medioevo all’Ottocento, Milano 1970, fig. 21;
Colombo Silvano, L’arte del mobile in Italia, Milano 1975, fig. 183;
Sinistri Tebaldo, I Federici di Vallecamonica, Cividate Camuno 1975, p. 19;
Nicita Paola, Musei e storia dell’arte a Roma. Palazzo Corsini, Palazzo Venezia, Castel Sant’Angelo e Palazzo Barberini tra XIX e XX secolo, Roma 2009, p. 318.