Marriage at the Time of Pisanello

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

The usual keeping furniture in the Middle Ages was the coffer.

In the fifteenth century in Italy, the coffer becomes a work of art. The cassone is a marriage chest offered to the bride in order to keep her kit and dowry. The finest of these ceremonial furniture are painted.

On October 13 in Florence, Sotheby's sells a cassone whose front panel, 68 x 163 cm, is painted of a wedding scene. The newly weds are shown twice, left and right, with a background of flowered garden. In the center a rather confused heraldic motif identifies the owners as an aristocratic family from Milan.

The artistic language of this painting is a close imitation of Pisanello. The high forehead of the bride, the precision of the clothing and the floral motif are reminiscent of the famous portrait of the Princess of Este kept by the Louvre. Pictorial fashions already changed often at that time, and we can assume that our cassone is contemporary of this artist who died circa 1455.

This important piece is part of the Italian cultural heritage, and not allowed to leave that country. Perhaps for this reason, the lower estimate is reasonable: 300 K €. The high estimate, 500 K €, is probably closer to the price that the lot could have on the international market.

The cassone had a large role in the evolution of secular art with a special novelty which was exciting at that time: the inner panel of the cabinet was sometimes illustrated with a nude scene. This is not the case with the specimen that we discussed above.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

This was not a work of art but a painted furniture. The time was identifiable, but not the author of the painting. The image repeated the motifs of one of the top masters of the time. This was not enough: unsold.