Richly ornamented cassoni to hold the bridal trousseau constitute an important class of Renaissance furniture. The two marriage chests, illustrated on this page, are magnificent examples of this type of furniture. The Florentine cassone is ornamented with gilded, low reliefs in “pastille.” In the center are the four cardinal virtues, Temperance, Justice, Fortitude and Prudence; on either side of this group, mythological scenes that may be taken in connection with the virtues as representing the opposition between the ordered Christian life and pagan license. The Medusa heads are introduced as guardians against misfortune. This combination of pagan and Christian elements is thoroughly characteristic of the Renaissance. The beautifully carved walnut cassone was made in 1514 for a marriage which united two Sienese families, the Piccolomini and the del Golia. In its refinement of proportions and skilful execution this cassone is a masterpiece of furniture designing.
Cassone, Carved Walnut. Sienese, 1514
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY ART
Chair, Portuguese. XVII Century
The XVII century is an age of opposites. Democracy is contrasted with absolutism; the newly won Dutch Republic with the monarchies of Spain and France. Christendom is divided between the antagonistic sects of Catholicism and Protestantism. The Counter-Reformation, at first mistrustful of the artist, now makes use of art to further the Catholic reaction. But religious art itself, exclusively Catholic, is animated by varying emotions which find expression, on the one hand, in the passionate, morbid fervor of Ribera (1588-1656); on the other, in the easy-going rhetoric and corpulent healthiness of Rubens (1577-1640). In secular art we find equally striking contrasts; the pendulum swings from the aristocratic refinement of Van Dyck (1599-1641) to the vulgarity of Brouwer (1606-1638). It seems incredible that two such great artists as Rembrandt (1607-1669) and Velasquez (1599-1660) should have been contemporaries: Velasquez, reserved, proud, the embodiment of Spanish courtliness; Rembrandt, emotional, democratic, understanding and sympathizing with all mankind. But the contrast is no greater than between the popular art that flourished in the Netherlands under a free people, and the monarchical art, with its academies, court painters, sculptors, architects, tapestry weavers and cabinet makers, that revolved around the awesome person of le grand monarque, Louis XIV. Architecture, sculpture and the minor arts display more uniformity of style than the paintings of the period. Dependent largely upon the Church or upon an opulent aristocracy for patronage, they reflect the taste for grandiloquence, ostentation and splendid show which characterized, in this century, ecclesiastic and noble alike. The classic orders tower and writhe on church facade and palace walls. Within, where all is resplendent with gold and rich colors, magnificence pays its lavish homage to deity or to royalty in equal measure.
