THE PIETRA DURA PANELS ATTRIBUTED TO THE GRAND DUCAL WORKSHOPS, FLORENCE, SECOND HALF 17TH CENTURY, THE CABINET CIRCA 1670, THE STAND GEORGE II, CIRCA 1730

This cabinet beautifully depicts the magical tale of the poet musician Orpheus, known in Greek mythology quaintly as the first musician. Orpheus was the son of Oeagrus, King of Thrace, and the muse Calliope, who presided over epic poetry and music. It was the god Apollo who taught Orpheus to play the lyre as an adolescent, the instrument for which he is synonymous. The myth describes Orpheus' gift for music as divine and superhuman, and with the ability to charm any living creature, making rocks move and trees dance. The most famous tale of Orpheus surrounds the death of his beloved Eurydice. When Orpheus’ wife Eurydice fell into a nest of vipers and died, he mourned her death by playing music. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses he recounts how the harsh Fates shed their first tears listening to Orpheus’ transcendent music. They advised him to meet with the gods of the Underworld, Hades and Persephone, to try and rescue his wife. So moved by his plea and his beautiful music the gods agreed but told him he must not look back until they reach the surface. Eager to see his wife again, just before the opening of the cave Orpheus looked back, thus sending her back to the Underworld forever. He spent the rest of his life mourning his wife, never to love again, and enchanting those with his sorrowful music. One day, Orpheus sent to worship the sun god Apollo, and was caught by Maenads for not properly honoring the oracle Dionysus and was killed.

This tale became an increasingly popular depiction in sixteenth-century art. During a period of intense political upheaval and religious strife, the story became a symbol of hope and endurance.

The imagery of Orpheus charming the animals was one of the Galleria de' Lavori’s most popular subjects, and reflects the high technical standards of the workshop (W. Koeppe, A. Giusti, Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe, New Haven and London, 2008, pp. 176-177). The Galleria de' Lavori, the Medici grand-ducal workshop in Florence, was founded by Grand Duke Ferdinando I of Tuscany in 1588.

One of the most important examples is the Barberini Cabinet in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, completed between 1606-1623. The central panel similarly modelled with Orpheus on a rock, playing music amongst the animals is surrounded by whimsical illustrations of animals and the hunt, after woodcut illustrations from Aesop’s Fables.

The impressive jewel-like panels most popularly illustrated birds, flowers and animals, even visitors in exotic textiles and Italianate landscapes. In the latter half of the seventeenth century many wealthy patrons embarking on the ‘Grand Tour’ collected these panels, and often commissioned cabinets to set the panels into, such as the present lot. The design evolved from the German Wunderkammer or Italian studiolo, with ebony-framed reliquaries ornamented with pietra dura panels and gilt mounts. They had several functions: as a ‘cabinet of curiosities’ in which precious items such as gemstones, carved ivories and small bronzes were kept; as a statement piece of furniture that illustrated the refined learning of the cabinet’s owner; and also to display wealth and prestige. Occasionally, sets of pietra dura panels of Orpheus together with smaller ones of animals having come to listen to him were sold together. Only three other cabinets are known to incorporate full surviving sets: an Italian table cabinet dated to circa 1620 and now at the Detroit Institute of Arts (inv. 1994.77 and illustrated A. Giusti, Pietre Dure and the Art of the Florentine Inlay, London, 2006, pp. 168-9, ill. 138); a Flemish cabinet-on-stand sold from the collections of Valerian Rybar and Jean-François Daigre, Christie's, Paris, 5 June 2003, lot 35; and an exquisite French cabinet attributed to Domenico Cucci and the Gobelins Workshop, dated to circa 1665-1675 and sold at Christie’s, London, 10 December 2009, lot 875.