Northern Italian workshop, Carthusian decoration box
Northern Italy workshop Carthusian-style casket with decoration, 15th century Casket Carved walnut wood, bone and mother-of-pearl Inv. PME9 This square-shaped wooden chest, decorated with mother-of-pearl and bone inlays, was probably intended to hold papers and precious objects. Purchased by Barbantini on the antiques market, it is distinguished by a well-preserved Carthusian-style decoration composed of […]
Lombard Ambit, Mandola
Lombardy Scope Mandola, second half of the 18th century Walnut, maple and fir Marfisa mansion, inv. PME78 The instrument, was purchased by Barbantini to enrich the studio space. Belonging to the lute family and identifiable as a mandola, it is an exquisitely crafted plucked instrument made in the Lombardy area in the second half […]
Veneto area (?), Dish with bird
Dish with bird, second half of the 16th century Engobed, graffitied and painted terracotta Estense Foundation Collection, inv. CFE II.42 The small-sized dish features a flattened calotte cavetto and an outward-facing, rounded rim. In the center is depicted a bird resting on a branch, surrounded by stylized vines and plant motifs. The technical and stylistic […]
Mario Capuzzo, Portrait of a noblewoman (Marfisa d’Este)
Portrait of a noblewoman (Marfisa d’Este), 1938 Oil on plywood, Marfisa Building, inv. PME14 The painting is a copy of a late 16th-century female portrait, preserved at the Ducal Palace in Mantua. In the late 1930s, people wanted to recognize the image of Marfisa d’Este in the Mantuan original (attributed to Anthonis Mor). The gentlewoman […]
Anonymous, Francesco d’Este
Anonymous Francesco d’Este (obverse); Two columned temples with dome (reverse)., mid-16th century Bronze Marfisa building, inv. NU51113 The medal depicts, on the obverse, the bust of Francesco d’Este, represented turned to the right and bareheaded, with a beard and short hair, and dressed in an armor decorated with the head of Medusa. The legend […]