CASSONE TOSCAN WITH TORNAQUINCI'S ARMS Florence,... Lot 37

CASSONE TOSCAN WITH TORNAQUINCI'S ARMS Florence, 16th century Dark walnut H. 70, W. 175.5 cm, D. 61 cm Arms of a member of the Tornaquinci family: shield quartered, on a chief charged with three fleurs-de-lys between the four pendants of a label The proportions of this dark walnut cassone, carved in the mass, are inspired by those of ancient sarcophagi. The central armorial medallion reminds us that it was intended for a member of the illustrious Florentine family of the Tornaquinci. The flap, still linked to the body of the piece of furniture by two wrought iron hinges, overhangs the front, majestically flanked at the corners by two large acanthus leaves resting on two powerful lions and underlined by a fine beaded cordon. The godron frieze runs along the base of the piece of furniture, interrupted at the corners. The median gadroon disappears under a large leaf. Most of the decoration is on the main side. The sides are smooth. Our chest is thus a variation on the beautiful design in the Metropolitan Museum (fig. 1). The front is decorated with floral scrolls on either side of the coat of arms, which is set on a cut-out leather and set with a plant crown. On ours, they are framed by a string of pearls and help to highlight the Tornaquinci quartered coat of arms, which may have been painted. An anonymous member of the lineage traced the history of the coat of arms back to around 1376 (Genealogy of the Tornaquinci, Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, ms. 1885). This was one of the oldest and most powerful families in Florence, which, from the year 1000, concentrated its possessions and activities around the present-day Porta San Marco. It is said to have founded the first altar in the church of the Dominican convent of Santa Maria Novella, where it was buried before 1310. The sixteenth century was a prosperous period for the clan, which could count on the support of the Medici. Giovanni Battista was, for example, one of the knights of the Order of Saint Stephen, founded by Como I in 1561. His shield, which he bore quarterly Or and Vert (Tornaquinci), was charged in chief with the cross of the order (fig. 2). In 1566, his relative Giovanni di Antonio was chief magistrate of Sesto Fiorentino, a municipality near Florence. His coat of arms, carved in relief on the façade of the Palazzo Pretorio, is badly damaged in the upper part, but one can still make out the trace of the pendants of the chief label (fig. 3). The Florentine magistrate Giovanni di Antonio Tornaquinci is probably the patron of our cassone, on which the Tornaquinci shield is charged in chief with three fleurs-de-lys arranged between the pendants of a lambel. This great family continues today through the Medici-Tornaquinci branch.