Italian, Northern Italy
Cassone with Three Painted Scenes, 1480-1489
Painted and gilded pine and walnut, 83.8 x 218 x 61 cm (33 x 85 13/16 x 24 in.)
This is a cassone, a low, horizontal, rectangular wooden chest. The chest has a flat lid. Directly below is a row of dentil molding. Below the molding is gilded decoration made up of scrolling lines and dolphin figures. Below this is a molded frame around three separate painted panels. Between and outside the panels is more decoration of scrolling lines and dolphins. The painted panel to our left shows an archway, with standing figures of men and women in the foreground; through the archway is a scene with sky and clouds, trees, and buildings. In the next, or middle, panel, a figure stands on the top of steps to our right. Two figures stand in front of the steps on the ground. Through a double archway is a scene similar to the first. In the third panel, to our right, a figure leans over a balcony, and another figure swims in moving water. The two front corners of the chest rests on the back of a crouching lion, painted a dark color with guided manes.
Raphael Room
Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.