Traveling bridal cassone

This small cassone, known as a “nun’s chest” due to its common use for storing nuns’ trousseaux, features a rounded lid and iron banding, and is entirely covered in painted leather. The interior retains partial coverage of textured linen fabric, which suggests it was not intended to store weapons (as proposed by Hermanin in 1948). The slightly convex front is divided into five sections by vertical metal bands. The two end sections depict tongues of fire rising from below, while the inner sections feature a column with an ornate capital. The central section displays the same column within a circle of stylized clouds, flanked by two stars. This motif also appears on the sides of the cassone, where handles are attached for transport.
On the reverse side, a fire-branded coat of arms displays an eight-pointed star in each half and a Maltese cross at the top. Once thought to be a weapons chest, this piece is essentially a piece of portable furniture used for traveling, as suggested by its size and the presence of side handles. It was probably commissioned for a wedding to hold the bride’s dowry, and the presence of coats of arms and heraldic devices would support this interpretation, particularly the column that would very clearly identify the coat of arms of the Colonna family (Casanova 1994). (For an alternative interpretation, following the 1984 restoration, where the column represents a pole instead of a column, see the OA report in the Archivio Storico, Museo di Palazzo Venezia Museum). Additionally, the flaming tongues may represent the “flames of fire” emblem associated with Federico da Montefeltro, who incorporated the emblem in various forms and contexts (Critelli 2019, pp. 73-98).
The creation of this cassone could prudently be traced back to the marriage between Federico da Montefeltro’s daughter Agnese da Montefeltro and the condottiere Fabrizio Colonna in 1489. The two families had previously united in 1424 through the marriage of Guidantonio da Montefeltro, Federico’s father, to Caterina Colonna. However, a timeline extending to the second half of the fifteenth century, specifically the end of the century, is more appropriate for the cassone in the Museo di Palazzo Venezia. This is supported by comparisons with similar pieces featuring the same flame emblems, which are now in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London (Thornton 1984, pp. 246–251, fig. 8) and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (Scheurleer, Herman 1952, cat. 375).

Lorenzo Mascheretti

Entry published on 27 March 2025

Good.

In 1984, the cassone was restored by the Gabinetto del Museo di Palazzo Venezia. The restoration involved cleaning the color and consolidating the wood where required.

On the front and sides, Colonna (?) and Montefeltro (?) workshops coats of arms;
On the reverse, unidentified coat of arms, with an eight-pointed star in each half and the Maltese cross on the head.

G. Vitali (before 1929);
Rome, Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia (1929); Hermanin (1948, p. 362) states it was purchased in 1918;
purchased by the Comitato Lavori per il restauro di Palazzo Venezia.

Hermanin Federico, Il Palazzo di Venezia, Roma 1948, p. 362;
Scheurleer Lunsingh, Herman Theodor, Catalogus van meubelen en betimmeringen, Amsterdam 1952, cat. 375;
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. 289, fig. 1;
Thornton Peter, Cassoni, Forzieri, Goffani and Cassette: Terminology and its problems, in «Apollo», 120/272, 1984, pp. 246-251, fig. 8;
Casanova Maria Letizia, Il Museo del Palazzo di Venezia, Roma 1994, p. 5;
Critelli Maria Gabriella , A proposito delle fiammelle inquartate con le lettere FD di Federico da Montefeltro nei codici Urbinati, in «Miscellanea Bibliothecae Apostolicae Vaticanae», 25, 2019, pp. 73-98.