16th Century Furniture

A rare and very fine bronze corpus of Christ after a model by Michelangelo, cast ca. 1597-1600 by Juan Bautista Franconio and painted in 1600 by Francisco Pacheco in Seville, Spain. The present corpus reproduces a model attributed to Michelangelo. The best known example, lesser in quality, is one on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET). The association of this corpus with Michelangelo was first brought to light by Manuel Gomez-Moreno (1930-33) who studied the wider circulated casts identified throughout Spain. The attribution to Michelangelo was subsequently followed by John Goldsmith-Phillips (1937) of the MET and again by Michelangelo expert, Charles de Tolnay (1960). While Michelangelo is best known for his monumental works, there are four documented crucifixes he made. The best known example is the large-scale wooden crucifix for the Church of Santa Maria del Santo Spirito in Florence, made in 1492 as a gift for the Prior, Giovanni di Lap Bicchiellini, for allowing him to study the anatomy of corpses at the hospital there. In 1562, Michelangelo wrote two letters to his nephew, Lionardo, indicating his intention to carve a wooden crucifix for him. In 1563 a letter between Lionardo and the Italian sculptor Tiberio Calcagni, mentions this same crucifix (a sketch of a corpus on the verso of a sheet depicting Michelangelo’s designs for St. Peter’s Basillica [Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille] may reproduce this). That Michelangelo was working on small corpora in the last years of his life is further evidenced by the small (26.5 cm) unfinished wooden crucifix located at the Casa Buonarroti, considered his last known sculptural undertaking. Michelangelo’s contemporary biographer, Giorgio Vasari additionally cites that Michelangelo, in his later years, made a small crucifix for his friend, Menighella, as a gift. Surviving sketches also indicate Michelangelo’s study of this subject throughout his career, most notably during the end of his life but also during the 1530s-40s as he deepened his spiritual roots. The occasional cameo of crucified Christ’s throughout his sketched oeuvre have made it challenging for scholars to link such sketches to any documented commissions of importance. All the while, in consideration that such objects were made as gifts, it is unlikely they should be linked with commissions. Nonetheless, a number of theories concerning Michelangelo’s sketches of Christ crucified have been proposed and some may regard the origin of the present sculpture. It has been suggested that the corpus could have its impetus with Michelangelo’s work on the Medici Chapel, whose exclusive design was given to the master. It is sensible smaller details, like an altar cross, could have fallen under his responsibility (see for example British Museum, Inv. 1859,0625.552). Others have noted the possibility of an unrealized large marble Crucifixion group which never came to fruition but whose marble blocks had been measured according to a sheet at the Casa Buonarroti. A unique suggestion is that Michelangelo could have made the crucifix for Vittoria Colonna, of whom he was exceedingly fond and with whom he exchanged gifts along with mutual spiritual proclivities. In particular, Vittoria had an interest in the life of St. Bridget, whose vision of Christ closely resembles our sculpture, most notably with Christ’s proper-left leg and foot crossed over his right, an iconography that is incredibly scarce for crucifixes. The suggestion could add sense to Benedetto Varchi’s comment that Michelangelo made a sculpted “nude Christ…he gave to the most divine Marchesa of Pescara (Vittoria Colonna).” Of that same period, two sketches can be visually linked to our sculpture. Tolnay relates it to a sketch of a Crucified Christ at the Teylers Museum (Inv. A034) of which Paul Joannides comments on its quality as suggestive of preparations for a sculptural work. Joannides also calls attention to a related drawing attributed to Raffaello da Montelupo copying what is believed to be a lost sketch by Michelangelo. Its relationship with our sculpture is apparent. Montelupo, a pupil of Michelangelo’s, returned to Rome to serve him in 1541, assisting with the continued work on the tomb of Pope Julius II, suggesting again an origin for the corpus ca. 1540. The earliest firm date that can be given to the present corpus is 1574 where it appears as a rather crudely conceived Crucifixion panel, flanked by two mourners in low-relief and integrally cast for use as the bronze tabernacle door to a ciborium now located at the Church of San Lorenzo in Padula. Etched in wax residue on the back of the door is the date, 27 January 1574, indicating the corpus would have at least been available as a model by late 1573. The Padula tabernacle was completed by Michelangelo’s assistant, Jacopo del Duca and likely has its origins with Michelangelo’s uncompleted tabernacle for the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels in Rome. The impetus for the Padula tabernacle’s Crucifixion panel begins with a series of late Crucifixion sketches by Michelangelo, depicting a scene of Christ crucified and flanked by two mourners (see British Museum Inv. 1895.0915.510; Ashmolean Museum Inv. 1846.89, KP II 343 recto; Windsor Castle RCIN 912761 recto; and Louvre Inv. 700). A faintly traced block possibly intended for sculpting the sketch of the crucified Christ on its recto was discovered by Tolnay on a version of the composition at Windsor Castle. The Windsor sketch and those related to it appear to have served as preparatory designs for what was probably intended to become the Basilica of St. Mary’s tabernacle door. Vasari documents that the project was to be designed by Michelangelo and cast by his assistant, Jacopo del Duca. Michelangelo died before the commission was complete, though on 15 March 1565, Jacopo writes to Michelangelo’s nephew stating, “I have started making the bronze tabernacle, depending on the model of his that was in Rome, already almost half complete.” Various circumstances interrupted the completion of the tabernacle, though its concept is later revitalized by Jacopo during preparations to sell a tabernacle, after Michelangelo’s designs, to Spain for Madrid’s El Escorial almost a decade later. The El Escorial tabernacle likewise encountered problems and was aborted but Jacopo successfully sold it shortly thereafter to the Carthusians of Padula. An etched date, 30 May 1572, along the base of the Padula tabernacle indicates its framework was already cast by then. A 1573 summary of the tabernacle also describes the original format for the door and relief panels, intended to be square in dimension. However, a last minute decision to heighten them was abruptly made during Jacopo’s negotiations to sell the tabernacle to King Phillip II of Spain. Shortly thereafter the commission was aborted. Philippe Malgouyres notes that the Padula tabernacle’s final state is a mixed product of the original design intended for Spain’s El Escorial, recycling various parts that had already been cast and adding new quickly finished elements for its sale to Padula, explaining its unusually discordant quality, particularly as concerns the crudeness of the door and relief panels which were clearly made later (by January 1574). Apart from his own admission in letters to Spain, it is apparent, however, that Jacopo relied upon his deceased master’s designs while hastily realizing the Padula panels. If Michelangelo had already earlier conceived a crucifix model, and Jacopo had access to that model, its logical he could have hastily employed it for incorporation on the door panel to the tabernacle. It is worth noting some modifications he made to the model, extending Christ’s arms further up in order to fit them into the scale of the panel and further lowering his chin to his chest in order to instill physiognomic congruence. A crude panel of the Deposition also follows after Michelangelo’s late sketches and is likewise known by examples thought to be modifications by Jacopo based upon Michelangelo’s initial sculptural conception (see Malgouyres: La Deposition du Christ de Jacopo del Duca, chef-d’oeuvre posthume de Michel-Ange). Jacopo’s appropriation of an original model by Michelangelo for more than one relief on the Padula tabernacle adds further indication that the crucifix was not an object unique to Jacopo’s hand, as few scholars have posited, but rather belongs to Michelangelo’s original...

A chinese porcelain table screen from the Ming period, 16/17th century. Decorated in High Relief With Shoulou on his crane and the Eight Immorta...

Friar armchair. Walnut wood, leather. Spain, 16th century. Armchair with arms and high back of the type known as “frailero”, which has leather with studs on the seat and upper part ...

An Ottoman Empire Damascus square tile, late 16th century, the glazed fritware body painted in underglaze green, blue, turquoise and black with four lobed medallions and four split p...

The large bowl with foliated rim from around 1600, Ming period. The bowl is decorated with a continuous river landscape scene with pagodas, pavilions, boats and cranes in a pine tree. The interior rim and interior central roundel are similarly decorated. Additional information: Material: Porcelain & Pottery Region of Origin: China Emperor: Ming Jiajing...

Typical stool with backrest and curved legs in solid walnut wood with dark patina. This type of bench is used in guard posts, for this reason the seat is small and uncomfortable, to ...

RARE RENAISSANCE FLORENTINE WALNUT CABINET WITH CERTOSINA DECORATION ORIGIN: FLORENCE, ITALY PERIOD: END OF 15th CENTURY – BEGINNING OF 16th CENTURY Height: 129 cm Length: 107 cm...

A panel of four square Ottoman Empire ‘Dome of the Rock’ tiles, painted in underglaze cobalt blue with a trellis of split and winged palmettes with cloud-scroll collars, framed. Syrian, 16th century. 15 in square, framed 17 ½ in square. Provenance: Property of a private European collector. Footnote: This design was first seen on the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, which was tiled on the instructions of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent around 1545. Soon after similar tiles appeared on several building in Aleppo, most notably Bait Jumbiatt, the Ummayad Mosque and the Khosrowiyya Mosque, as well as numerous private houses. There are also near identical tiles in the Ramanazoglu Mosque in Adana (Turkey). See Arthur Miler ‘Damascus Tiles...

RARE RENAISSANCE CAQUETOIRES FROM THE FONTAINEBLEAU SCHOOL WITH A PERSPECTIVE MOTIF THAT COULD FORM A PAIR ORIGIN : FRANCE, VAL DE LOIRE or ILE DE FRANCE PERIOD : 16th CENTURY Heig...

Spanish school of the sixteenth century. "Saint Paul". Carved and polychrome wood. Devotional image of a round piece carved in wood, polychrome and gilded, representing the Apostle ...

Most likely Ming 15th/16th Century, carved chicken bone jade figure of a standing Guanyin (Quanyin) holding a scroll in one hand, prayer beads in the other. Affixed to carved wood ba...

IMPORTANT POLYCHROME LOW-RELIEF DEPICTING CHRIST IN THE MOUNT OF OLIVES ORIGIN: SOUTH GERMANY or ALSACE PERIOD: ca. 1500-1510 Height : 78 cm Length : 57 cm Depth : 8 cm Limewood ...

This brazier from the 16th century Renaissance era is truly rare. The fire pit features a copper vessel and a beautifully crafted hand-forged iron pedestal. The pedestal has three fe...

Mid-16th Century Brussels Tapestry Pillow

16th century Italian ivory figure of Christ mounted against green felt fabric and framed in a coordinating cream frame. This piece was once originally pa...

A panel of two square Ottoman Empire ‘Dome of the Rock’ tiles, painted in underglaze cobalt blue, black and apple green with a trellis of split and winged palmettes with cloud-scroll...

WALNUT SHUTTER TABLE ORIGIN: VAL-DE-LOIRE, FRANCE PERIOD: HENRI II PERIOD, CIRCA 1550 Height: 74 cm Width: 74 cm Diameter: 92 cm Walnut wood Made of a beautiful walnut, this ro...

IMPORTANT ITALIAN RENAISSANCE GARDENER ORIGIN: NORTHERN ITALY PERIOD: 16th CENTURY Height: 52 cm Length: 130 cm Depth: 53 cm Verona marble Taking the form of an antique sarcopha...

RARE RENAISSANCE CABINET WITH FEATHER QUILL AND FENESTRATION DECORATION ORIGIN: FRANCE PERIOD: EARLY 16th CENTURY DIMENSIONS : Height : 178 cm Length : 145 cm Depth : 58 cm Walnu...

⁠It's 17th century chinese porcelain, Ming period, made for the Japanese market. This unusual Kosumetsuke Koro would have been used for incense that is added to the charcoal fire dur...

An English medieval style carved red sandstone roundel possibly dating from as early as the 16th century. Likely once used as decoration for an exterior capital, this 400 – 500 year ...

16th century Italian old master pen, ink & wash drawing depicting an ancient roman scene - soldiers presenting prisoners brought before the Emperor for execution, watermarked, held in a neoclassical gilt frame under protective glass. Polidoro Caldara, usually known as Polidoro da Caravaggio (c. 1499 – 1543) was an Italian painter of the Mannerist period, "arguably the most gifted and certainly the least conventional of Raphael's pupils", who was best known for his now-vanished paintings on the facades of Roman houses. He was unrelated to the later painter Michelangelo Merisi...

An enigmatic and ephemeral Thai cast bronze fragment of a seated Buddha, Sukhothai Kingdom, circa 15th/16th century, Thailand. The fragment depicts the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni...

A very nicely decorated and highly unusual dish from the 15th/16th century. The dish is beautifully designed with a beautiful fish in the centre. 9-1-23-1-1 Additional information:...

RARE RENAISSANCE TABLE WITH FIXED TOP ORIGIN: FRANCE PERIOD : SECOND HALF OF THE 16th CENTURY, c. 1560-1580 Height: 87 cm Length: 158 cm Width: 78 cm Walnut wood Good condition...

Antonio Alegri, (Correggio - 1494-1534) Our Lady with the Child Jesus oil on copper, Italian School 16th century With inscription on the back '1494-1534 Antonio Alegri, (Corregio) Lo...

French Bronze Sculpture of Youth Wrangling a Horse by Guillaume Coustou (1677-1746). Best known for his monumental statues of horses, Coustou was the royal sculptor for Louis XIV an...

Peut-être 15e-17e s. objet de fouille du Niger (Afrique), belle engobe en argile rouge avec bandes incisées, col haut se terminant par une lèvre évasée, bel exemplaire. Bel objet décoratif...

FLORENTINE CREDENZA WITH CORNER COLUMNS ORIGIN : TOSCANY, ITALY PERIOD : LATE 16th CENTURY Height: 84 cm Width: 101 cm Depth: 48 cm Walnut wood Although the first Italian cre...

RENAISSANCE CHAYÈRE WITH PERSPECTIVE MOTIF ORIGIN: FRANCE, LYON ÉPOQUE: FIRST HALF OF THE XVI CENTURY Height: 166cm Width: 74cm Depth: 47cm Walnut wood From: Château de Quintin’...

SAINT CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA ORIGIN : SWABIA, ULM REGION PERIOD : ca. 1510-1520 Height : 118 cm Length : 39 cm Depth : 17 cm Limewood...

Whereas many pieces of furniture during the Italian Renaissance were heavily painted or inlaid with decorative motifs, French examples utilized hand-sculpted elements as the predomin...

IMPORTANT WOOD SCULPTURE REPRESENTING SAINT BARBARA ORIGIN : NORTHERN FRANCE OR FLANDERS PERIOD : 16th CENTURY Height: 103 cm Length: 40 cm Depth: 30 cm Oak wood Good condition Saint Barbara was the daughter of Dioscorus who imprisonned her in a tower to prevent her from being corrupted by Christianity. Despite this, she was taught and baptisted by a local priest. According to legend, she proved her faith by carving a third window into the tower, symbolic of the Trinity. Once her father learned this, he threatened her with his sword. She managed to escape and hide, not before being revealed by a sheperd. She was thrown in jail and tortured, refusing to denounce her faith. Her father forced her up to the mountain’s summit and decapitated her, afterwhich God struck him down by lightning. Saint Barbara`s following was popularized in the Occident in the 13th century because of the Golden Legend...

Venetian Hand-Carved Stone Staircase Starter in the Shape of a Dragon

Mid-16th Century Brussels Tapestry Pillow

An absolutely stunning Tokoname ware stoneware vase/jar/vessel - produced sometime during the late Muromachi period (1336-1573 to early Edo Period (1603-1867). Tokoname-yaki ware is ...

A wall hanging tapestry, simply put, is a textile specifically designed and woven to portray an artistic scene with the intent of hanging it on a wall. Antique tapestries, those that...

This exceptional bronze Ava Buddha statue is a rare and historically significant piece of art. Crafted from bronze, it stands at 51 cm in height with dimensions of 34 cm in width and...

A Chinese stoneware day bed model circa Ming dynasty (15th-17th century). The miniature models were traditionally made as burial offering objects. Pottery models of daily life necess...

Woodcut print on paper, a reproduction of an original 1511 artwork titled The Head of Saint John the Baptist Brought to Herod by Albrecht Durer, 1471 to ...

An exceptional 16th Century Spanish walnut and boxwood table cabinet from Catalonia, also known as an arquilla. The fall is richly inlaid with bone, creating a decorative scene of tw...

SAINT JOHN OF CALVARY ORIGIN : SOUTH GERMANY PERIOD : 16th CENTURY Height: 104 cm Width: 42 cm Depth: 29 cm This Saint John belonged to a Crucifixion group depicting three figur...

A pair of Chinese stoneware horseshoe cross chairs circa Ming dynasty (15th-17th century). The miniature models were traditionally made as burial offeri...

15-7-19-1-2 Typical late Ming landscape dish. A very nice example! Condition Overall condition A (Very good) rimfritting, filled chip and 2 hairlines. Size 160 mm Period...

A Chinese stoneware day bed model circa Ming dynasty (15th-17th century). The miniature models were traditionally made as burial offering objects. Pottery models of daily life necess...

Antique map titled 'Asiae XII Tab'. Mercator's Ptolemaic map of Taprobana. The map shows Ptolemy's erroneous location of the island of Sri Lanka near the equator, with a bit of India...

Mid-16th Century Brussels Tapestry Pillow

A beautiful pair of tapestry fragments, hand-woven in Flanders (now Belgium), circa 1580. At roughly 132 inches (11 feet) long, the fragments were, originally, vertical borders to a very large and brightly colored tapestry. The colors have maintained their vibrancy over the last 400+ years, with deep blue, brown, green, and red accents over a gold and cream background. Although the fragments do not have identical scenes, it is readily apparent that they originated from the same source. At the top of each fragment is a bearded warrior clad in golden armor with a flowing blue cape and green greaves. A shield rests on the ground, supported by the soldier’s left hand, while his right hand lifts a spear into the air. Towards the center of the textile is a pair of musicians, one strumming a lute, while the other plucks a lyre. At the bottom of each tapestry is a single female figure, well-dressed and sitting on a bench with one arm overhead. The remaining areas have been filled with fruit bouquets, architectural elements, and other figurative representations. A more recent navy blue border surrounds the scenes and the backs have been lined with a mauve colored linen. Our hand-woven tapestry borders...

A wonderful original piece of the Renaissance Period - a carved wooden polychromed figure / statue of Saint Francis. This piece was found in France but most probably originated in 1...

Antique map titled 'Asiae IIII Tab'. Beautiful map of Mercator's Ptolemaic map of the Holy Land, Cyprus, Syria, etc. Originates from Mercator's 'Geograph...

Mid-16th Century Brussels Tapestry Pillow

A fascinating pair of Pre-Inuit Thule Culture Bowls dating to the 14th-16th Century, one carved from Bone and the other from Driftwood. The Driftwood Bowl is fragmentary with the los...

Large Ming dynasty period painting, China 1365-1644. Oil or tempera painted on thin canvas (or silk), mounted on wood. The painting displays a vase of...

School of Titian, (Pieve di Cadore, 1488/1490 - Venice, 1576) Madonna with Child and San Giovannino Oil on canvas, 105 x 78 cm The work under consideration depicts a half-figure o...

An Italian surround or formal fireplace mantel from an antique villa near Verona. The flanking superbly carved wooden Ionic columns have been finished with a Venetian marble paint. T...

Mid-16th Century Brussels Tapestry Pillow

Mid-16th Century Brussels Tapestry Pillow

Very rare untitled antique woodcut map showing the region of the missionary journeys of Apostle Paul. It shows the Mediterranean with Greece, Asia Minor (Turkey), Northern Africa, So...