Day 174 - Barberini cabinet

August 7, 2019

Gallery 503 is a huge, rather dimly lit room that houses a number of Italian Renaissance treasures. A massive table of pietra dura that came from the Palazzo Farnese would scarcely fit in my living room; here, while it occupies a good deal of space, it doesn't fill even half the gallery. I learn many new things.  For one,  the first porcelain to be manufactured in Europe was made in 16th-century Florence under the sponsorship of Grand Duke Cosimo dei Medici; its blue and white palette was meant to imitate Chinese models. For another, the pope induced Flemish tapestry weavers to set up a workshop in Rome.  I note two tapestries, copies of lost originals, that were commissioned by Pope Leo X and follow a design of Raphael. The putti depicted on the tapestries are meant to evoke a classical golden age, although today, it's hard for me to look at them without thinking of the pedophilia scandals in the Catholic Church.  And I also learn that the charming and varied designs on Majolica pharmacy jars allowed pharmacists to identify their different contents more readily.

Today's object, known as the Barberini Cabinet, was made in the Galleria dei Lavori in Florence around 1606-1623. About three feet long, 20 inches high, and 15 inches deep, it is constructed of oak and poplar veneered with various exotic hardwoods, with ebony molding and inlaid plaques of marble, slate, and pietra dura work that includes various colored marbles, other hard stones, and rock crystal. At the very top and center is the Barberini coat of arms; I'm excited to recognize the family's trademark insignia - three bees within a heraldic shield. Thirteen inlay scenes fashioned in pietra dura constitute the front of the cabinet. The text says that the scenes represent Aesop's fables; their designs are modeled after woodcut illustrations in an edition of Aesop published in Naples in 1485. The middle panel reminds me of depictions of Orpheus taming the beasts with his music (is Orpheus a figure in Aesop?), although the central character might just be a shepherd.  In the scene, a figure wearing peach-toned classical garb and a laurel wreah sits playing a stringed instrument with a bow. He is surrounded by birds, a goat, and a dog with a wonderfully mottled coat.  In another inlay,  a sprightly dog is crouched and holding something in its mouth; its tail curls up behind it. How did the artist render that in pietra dura, I wonder?  I could do without the hunting scenes at the bottom, but they are beautifully rendered. At the far ides of the cabinet's front are inlays showing identical vases, with different but, needless to say, harmonious flower arrangements arising from them; I particularly note the tulips, which had evidently been introduced into Europe by then. Large panels on the sides of the cabinets show birds and flowers.  There also appear to be panels on the top, but I can't see them; maybe the Met should mount a mirror above the cabinet?

I can't really tell whether the piece has drawers or doors- that is, whether it had any use or was simply an object to be contemplated with delight. It certainly does delight.