Page 249 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

some knowledge of the single vanishing point
system — as for instance in the three-arched log-
gias—but it is not applied consistently within all
the panels. For example, the tiered palace in panel
4 of the base exhibits at least two vanishing points
for the orthogonals. Some of the trickier forms,
such as the circular well in the townscape (panel
i), have given the designer all too obvious
trouble. And some of the assemblages of forms
are illogically constructed, as is the case with the
hourglass and books on one of the sloping faces of
the stand, where the hourglass is placed on an
inclined book but still manages to stand vertically.
The impression is that variations on local themes
have been worked ingeniously within the shop of
a master-craftsman, to produce a splendid piece of
display furniture encompassing the latest style,
but without the detailed intervention of a master-
artist who was learned in all the geometrical sub-
tleties of perspective. M.K. andc.A.

146

Antonio and Paolo Mole?
CASSONE OF THE HERZOGIN JACOBAA

ing examples of perspectival intarsie are the Within the three arched loggias represented in c. 1500-1510
decoration
schemes of decorative paneling for the studioli of intarsia on either side of the antiphonal stands are wooden chest with inlaid x yoVs x 34)
l
99.5 x 229 x 86.5 (39 /s
Federigo da Montefeltro in his palaces at Urbino books, an hourglass, a lamp with a lighted candle, references: Bertolotti 1889; Arcangeli 1942; Chastel
and Gubbio (Rotondi 1969 and Cheles 1986). The and a box with an inkwell and quill pen. It is pos- 1953; Chastel 1965; Ruckert 1965; London 1981;
intarsia patterns were probably executed by sible that the objects are symbols of worthy but Himmelheber 1985
Florentine masters, though the artist-designer has transitory pursuits, while the three arches might
not been identified with any certainty. allude to the enduring virtues of the Trinity. The Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich
This octagonally based lectern normally stands contents of the panels on the base, beginning with
at the center of the choir of the church of San the deftly concealed door, are (progressing to the This magnificent and well preserved chest has
Domenico (formerly San Martino) in Gubbio. right): (i) an architectural scene; (2) symbols of traditionally been associated with the marriage in
Though its early history is unknown, it was geometry (compasses, try square and mazzocchio) 1522 of Jacobaa von Baden and Herzog Wilhelm iv
almost certainly made for such a setting, where it with architectural motifs; (3) books, an incense of Bavaria, and it appears in the inventory of the
would be used to support antiphonaries, the large boat with its spoon, and a fan-like object, perhaps possessions of the Herzogin Jacobaa (Ruckert
books of oversized music from which the monks aflagellum-, (4) tiered architecture; (5) an altar 1965). However, the heraldic devices indicate that
sang. It was restored in 1980-1981 (report in Tosti bell (?), an unidentified object, a holy water its origins are within the court of the Gonzaga at
et al. 1982). Until recently, it was thought to be bucket with its aspergillum and a box with altar Mantua. The emblematic motifs at either end of
by Mariotto di Paolo Sensi, called Terzuolo, who is tapers; (6) a campanile-like construction contain- the chest — a muzzled hound with a decorative
first recorded working in Rome in 1492. He was ing two chalices; (7) a bowl of "eucharistic" grapes leash and a turtledove seated above a coiled, burn-
also active in Perugia and his native Gubbio, and a series of spiked objects (holders for proces- ing tree trunk with the motto "vrai amour nese
where he died in 1547 (Sannipoli, forthcoming). sional candles?); (8) a censer, with a pomegranate chiange" (true love does not change) —are both
Terzuolo's one identified work, the intarsie in the (symbolic of the unity of the church) and three Gonzaga devices, featured on ceramic floor tiles
sacristy in the Duomo, Perugia, of 1494-1497 cherries. One of the pilasters is decorated with in Isabella d'Este's studiolo at Mantua (London
(Cantelli 1973, fig. 28), are finer than the lectern, twining branches and foliage in a Germanic 1981). A legend stated that the turtledove would
which should probably be attributed to another manner, while others display ivy bearing acorns remain faithful to its deceased mate and would
master working in Gubbio or elsewhere in the or classical motifs (one strip of which is more perch only on dead branches. The devices appear
Marches. The presence of grotteschi on the base exquisitely finished than the others). The acorns to have been associated with various members of
appears to reflect trends in neighboring Perugia may allude to the della Rovere family, who were the Gonzaga family, and Isabella adopted them for
and suggests a date for the lectern from the late the heirs to the Montefeltro dynasty. use in her own decorative schemes.
14908 at the earliest. The variously carved pilas- The lectern as a whole is a pleasing ensemble, The fine intarsia decorations of the perspectival
ters may reflect the choirstalls and similarly but on detailed analysis it can be seen that the cupboards on the Munich chest have, not surpris-
shaped lectern for SantAgostino, Perugia, exe- perspectival designs have not been not undertaken ingly, been connected with Baccio Pontelli, a
cuted by the Florentine master Baccio d Agnolo in with the geometrical sophistication of the Urbino, Florentine master of marquetry, who is commonly
1502-1532 (Cantelli 1973, figs. 35-36 and 38-39). Gubbio, and Perugia intarsie. The designer has said to have worked in Urbino and perhaps also in

248 CIRCA 1492