16th Venetian Persian decor Lacquered Cabinet

Exceptional cabinet in lacquered and gilded wood, Venice, last quarter of the 16th century.
The architectural facade is centered on a tympanum supported by columns reminiscent of ancient temples, flanked by drawers. Inside is hidden a secret drawer.
The entire surface is lacquered and gilded on a dark background with a decoration called "à la Persane".

This cabinet is decorated with "golden lacquer", a painting which imitates, in composition, drafting technique and the ornamental motifs on which it was applied, that of lacquerware from the Near East, Turkish-Ottoman and Persian .

For a long time, studies have been devoted to European chinoiserie lacquer of the 18th century, in imitation of the Far East, Chinese and Japanese.

Professor A. González-Palacios recently showed that the first lacquers produced in Europe were made in Venice rather in the second half of the 16th century, under the influence of models from the Muslim world.

In this story of cultural exchanges between Venice and the Islamic East and the surprising adherence of the workshops of Serenissima to models of Islamic art transferred to objects of Western design, a fundamental role was played by Islamic bindings, the main instrument transmission to Venetian craftsmen of oriental ornamental techniques and motifs. The absolute sumptuousness and splendor of the Islamic manuscripts and the Turkish-Ottoman and Persian bindings explain the impact of these works on the craftsmen of the lagoon and the role played by the humanists in the diffusion of this art.

The connection between Islamic bindings and Venetian lacquerware has never been clearer than in Venetian cabinets whose exterior facades are designed as a framed binding.

There is a small wrought iron family seal attached to the drawer.

Measure

W cm 27
D cm 16
Hcm 25