Two-Tiered Cupboard Dated 1617
Unknown · c. 1610-1620, with additions of 1800-1815
Two and a half metres high and crowded with carving, this cupboard is a piece of architecture in walnut. At the top, a broken pediment holds a niche with a small nude woman flanked by caryatids, and just above the niche the date sixteen seventeen is cut into the wood. A frieze of military trophies separates the pediment from the upper doors, which are carved with figures of War and Victory and divided by three projecting terms. Between the two bodies, two drawers carry sea horses and cherub heads. On the sides, harpies carved in the round frame panels with a lion's head. The lower doors show scenes of Mars and Jupiter, rams' heads fill the corners, and the whole rests on four crouching lions. Look for the word DISCRETO on the lower left door.
The cupboard was probably made in Franche-Comté in the early seventeenth century, though parts were reworked between eighteen hundred and eighteen fifteen, when such pieces were fashionable again. It belonged to the painter Pierre Révoil, a pioneer collector of medieval and Renaissance art, and the museum bought it with his collection in eighteen twenty-eight.
Did You Know? The date 1617 is carved above the niche, but parts of the cupboard were reworked two centuries later.
Unlock the Full Guide
Read every room and listen to every work in all museums with premium.