Cassetta, c. 1375/1400

Not on View

Medium

wood, painted and gilded gesso, and lead white (?); gilded brass handle; velvet lining

Dimensions

overall (without handle): 19.1 × 14.6 × 37.2 cm, 5 lb. (7 1/2 × 5 3/4 × 14 5/8 in., 2.268 kg)
overall (handle, tail to tail): 7.5 × 24.5 cm (2 15/16 × 9 5/8 in.)

Credit Line

Widener Collection

Accession Number

1942.9.395

Artists / Makers

Tuscan 14th Century (artist)

Image Use

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Inscription

on lid, in gothic uncials in relief: IO SON ChONTENTO DAPO/ChAMORE [...] TALE [...] P[...]NTO (I am content with little love); on front, painted below keyhole on scroll held by two female figures: NON APRIRE SE / AMORE NON / SENTIRE [illegible overpainted area] (Do not open if you do not feel love [?])

Provenance

Lord John Temple Leader [1810-1903], Castello di Vincigliata, before 1903;[1] (Professor Luigi Grassi [1858-1937], Florence), before 1922; purchased 18 September 1922 by Joseph E. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania;[2] inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, after purchase by funds of the Estate; gift 1942 to NGA.

[1] This provenance reported in Widener 1935, 89. The Castello di Vincigliata, near Settignano, Italy, stands on land that belonged to the Visdomini family as early as the eleventh century. It was in ruins when bought in 1855 by the Englishman John Temple Leader, who restored and furnished it. Il Castello di Vincigliata e i suoi contorni (Florence, 1871). No catalogue of the objects it contained is known.

[2] The date of purchase from Luigi Grassi is in NGA curatorial files; Grassi is not mentioned in the relevant entry in Widener 1935, 88-89.

Associated Names

Grassi, Luigi, Professor
Leader, John Temple, Lord
Widener, Joseph E.

Bibliography

1942: Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 17.