Cassoni, known as forzieri in Renaissance Florence, were wooden chests given to the bride by her family as a gift for her wedding. They were used to transport weddings goods, such as a dowry (clothing, jewelry, accessories) and groom gifts during the wedding procession. They were also stored in the new house of the couple once the wedding was over. Between the 1370s and 1470s, most cassoni had painted decoration. This was a chance for families and artists to explore themes of love and marriage. The outside of the chest was composed of heraldic devices and narrative scenes, while the interior offered more lewd scenes composed of reclining nudes and putti, representing to bride's expectations to bear children. The most common scenes were those of conquests and triumphs with moral messages about the duties of husbands and wives. Some of the common values that were celebrated were meant for the wife, which included beauty, virtue, purity, duty, and fertility. The scenes depicted were taken from many sources, such as the Bible, Classical myths, and imagery from Ovid, Homer, Petrarch, and Boccaccio.
An example of a cassone is "The Conquest of Trebizond", painted in the 1460s by the workshops of Marco del Buono Giamberti and Appolonio di Giovanni di Tomaso. The mediums consist of poplar wood, linen, polychromed and gilded gesso with the panel painted in tempera, gold, and silver. The chest is connected with the Strozzi family due to the emblem of the falcon perched on a caltrop at the end piece of the cassone. The subject of the front panel is neither biblical, mythological, nor taken from a novella. It was originally thought that it represented the fall of the city of Trebizond (the last outpost of the Byzantine Empire) at the hands of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II. This signified the serious threat that the Turks posed to Europe, which in turn reflected the threat that the elite class of Florence was facing from the merchant class during the Renaissance. However, recent analysis found that the panel may, in fact, reveal the Ottoman forces being vanquished. The artists seemed to have depicted two historical events within one scene: the fall of Trebizond in 1461 and the battle of 1402 when the Ottomans were defeated by the Mongol Emperor and his troops. This represents the idea that the Ottomans were not invincible, reinforcing the belief that Europe was no match for the Ottomans.
The cassone can be seen today at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
Sources:
"The Collection Online." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016. http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/192693
"Picturing Family and Friends." Italian Renaissance Learning Ressources, 2016.
http://italianrenaissanceresources.com/units/unit-2/essays/husbands-and-wives/
"Cassone with the Conquest of Trebizond." KhanAcademy, 2016.
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/early-renaissance1/painting-in-florence/a/cassone-with-the-conquest-of-trebizond
An example of a cassone is "The Conquest of Trebizond", painted in the 1460s by the workshops of Marco del Buono Giamberti and Appolonio di Giovanni di Tomaso. The mediums consist of poplar wood, linen, polychromed and gilded gesso with the panel painted in tempera, gold, and silver. The chest is connected with the Strozzi family due to the emblem of the falcon perched on a caltrop at the end piece of the cassone. The subject of the front panel is neither biblical, mythological, nor taken from a novella. It was originally thought that it represented the fall of the city of Trebizond (the last outpost of the Byzantine Empire) at the hands of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II. This signified the serious threat that the Turks posed to Europe, which in turn reflected the threat that the elite class of Florence was facing from the merchant class during the Renaissance. However, recent analysis found that the panel may, in fact, reveal the Ottoman forces being vanquished. The artists seemed to have depicted two historical events within one scene: the fall of Trebizond in 1461 and the battle of 1402 when the Ottomans were defeated by the Mongol Emperor and his troops. This represents the idea that the Ottomans were not invincible, reinforcing the belief that Europe was no match for the Ottomans.
The cassone can be seen today at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
Sources:
"The Collection Online." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016. http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/192693
"Picturing Family and Friends." Italian Renaissance Learning Ressources, 2016.
http://italianrenaissanceresources.com/units/unit-2/essays/husbands-and-wives/
"Cassone with the Conquest of Trebizond." KhanAcademy, 2016.
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/early-renaissance1/painting-in-florence/a/cassone-with-the-conquest-of-trebizond
In two weeks I hope to seek this out (sure, 4 hours in the Met, I'm sure to find it, right?!!!)
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