Upper Paneling from a Sacristy Armoire
c. 1460–1475
Medium
walnut, inlaid with holly and ebony
Dimensions
160 × 476 × 69.2 cm
Classification
Furniture and woodwork
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
Accession Number
1915.526
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
The imagery on the inset panels is the result of a technique known as intarsia, the skilled inlaying of woods of different colors to create a type of mosaic, popular during the 15th and 16th centuries in Italy for the decoration of paneling and furniture for studies, small rooms, and church sacristies. This large set of five intarsia panels comes from an unknown Florentine church. In its original setting the panels rested upon a row of similarly decorated cupboards (a sacristy armoire) which wer...