CASSONE IN MARQUETRY with hagiographic decoration Northern... Lot 30

CASSONE IN MARQUETRY with hagiographic decoration Northern Italy, 16th century Walnut; fruitwood marquetry H. 56 cm, W. 171 cm, D. 65 cm This cassone, which rests on a moulded plinth, is entirely decorated in fruitwood marquetry. It is richly decorated with arabesques on the jambs and geometrical motifs on the sides. On the main side, the panels form two triptychs with a hagiographic scene between two ornamental flaps. They depict, on the left, the Conversion of St. Paul; on the right, the Encounter with the Cruciferous Stag. In a landscape, a rider is thrown from his mount. This is Saul, who later took the name Paul out of humility (in Latin, Paulus means "little one"). This biblical episode, evoked by Paul in his Epistles (1 Cor. 15:3-11; Gal. 1:11-17), is precisely related in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 9:1-30; 22:6-11; 26:13-18). Paul, considered the founder of the universal Church, is often called an apostle even though he did not know Christ. Born in Tarsus, around the year 10, into a Jewish family, naturalized as a Roman citizen, he took part in the persecutions against the Christians and in particular in the stoning of Stephen, the protomartyr. One day, on the road to Damascus, he had a vision: "a light from heaven shone around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? (Acts 9:3-4). This encounter with God was decisive. Converted to Christianity, he was baptized on his return to Damascus and became the most zealous missionary of Christ. The legendary story of St. Eustace is that of a Roman soldier, Placid, who loved to hunt. One day while he was chasing a deer, he saw a crucifix appear between its antlers and speak to him through the animal: "I am Jesus whom you honour without knowing it. When he returned home, he was baptized with all his family and took the name of Eustace. This scene of the encounter with the crucifix deer has passed into the legend of Saint Hubert, with whom he is sometimes confused. Hubert, the first bishop of Liège, was so fond of hunting that he could not resist going out one Good Friday. He met an extraordinary deer, between whose antlers a crucifix shone. Blinded like St. Paul on the road to Damascus, he fell off his horse and heard a voice say to him: "Hubert, Hubert, why are you pursuing me? How long will the passion of the hunt make you forget your salvation? He reformed his life and became a powerful missionary of God by performing many miracles. The cult of St. Hubert developed late in the 15th century, mainly in Northern Europe. Like St. Eustace, he is the patron saint of hunters. The conversion of one and the vision of the other both echo the story of Paul. The landscape backgrounds of the marquetry paintings open the front of the chest in depth like a window on the world, as do the urban perspectives inlaid on a series of chests from illustrious houses; one with the coat of arms of the Medici-Strozzi (Museum of Decorative Arts, Berlin), another from the Contini collection Bonacossi (Florence, Uffizi Gallery) and another from the Barsanti collection (fig. 1). The naturalism of the scenes depicted on our cassone, however, is more reminiscent of the great decorations of the study cabinets of Renaissance princes. One thinks in particular of the landscape under an archway in the studiolo of Duke Federico da Montefeltro (fig. 2).