Object details
Object number
F16e21
Creator(s)
Italian, Siena
Title
Cassone: A Procession
Date
about 1470
Medium
Gilded and painted poplar
Dimensions
69.2 x 170.5 x 57 cm (27 1/4 x 67 1/8 x 22 7/16 in.)
Provenance
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the dealer G. Teunissen, The Hague on 25 August 1894 for 400 guilders (paid as £33.10s) through Ralph W. Curtis (1854–1922), American painter and collector.
Commentary
This cassone (or wedding chest) belongs to a group of similar works. Later alterations, repairs, repainting, and regilding, however, make it particularly difficult to determine their authenticity. A careful study suggests that most of the group, including the Gardner example, are genuine Renaissance objects originating from a Sienese workshop.
Bibliography
Art Exhibition: Mrs. John L. Gardner, 152 Beacon St., Boston. Exh. cat. (Boston, 1899), p. 8, no. 24. (as Florentine)
Catalogue. Fenway Court. (Boston, 1903), p. 11. (as "Florentine Marriage Chest")
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 113.
William N. Mason. “Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 6, no. 39 (26 May 1963), pp. 1-2.
“Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 9, no. 20 (16 Jan. 1966), p. 2.
George L. Stout. Treasures from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1969), pp. 122-23.
Rollin van N. Hadley. Museums Discovered: The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. (Boston, 1981), pp. 150-51. (16th century)
Alan Chong et al. (eds.) Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2003), pp. 64-65. (Workshop of Francesco di Giorgio, Siena, 1439–1501)
Jacqueline Marie Mussacchio. Art, Marriage, and Family in the Florentine Renaissance Palace (New Haven and London, 2008), pp. 21-22, fig. 11. (Workshop of Francesco di Giorgio)
Fausto Calderai and Alan Chong. Furnishing a Museum: Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Collection of Italian Furniture (Boston, 2011), pp. 112-17, no. 35.
Gallery
Raphael Room
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