2-part Cabinet Or Cupboard With An Architectural Facade Of The Renaissance Style, 19th Century

Cabinet or two-part cabinet with an architectural facade in the Renaissance style from the 19th century in the style of the Masterpieces of the Strasbourg joiners' guild of the 17th century Oak, maple, fruit trees, walnut, softwood 4 trompe l'oeil doors majestically chiseled locks and ironwork 2 drawers in the lower part rests on loaf feet h224 x 181 x 64cm History of this magnificent piece of furniture: The cabinet as such only appeared at the beginning of the 16th century, and gradually replaced the chest, the main piece of furniture of the Middle Ages. In 1571, the magistrate of the city of Strasbourg imposed a new masterpiece on the joiners' guild: the two-part cabinet. These two bodies, resting on a base and bearing a crown, derive from the superposition of two chests. Conceived as a building, the cabinet also bears a decoration that reproduces that of the facades of Renaissance palaces. The marquetry motifs simulate stone cladding, creating a trompe-l'oeil effect. This armoire follows the rules of the Roman architect Vitruvius: two tiers of columns, Doric at the bottom, Ionic at the top, framing sham windows. This ancient treatise, rediscovered during the Renaissance and printed in Strasbourg in 1543, became the bible of ornamentalists.