Bottega Di Santa Maria Della Scala (mid-16th Century), Casket

Workshop of Santa Maria della Scala (mid-16th century)

Casket

Walnut wood with bone inlays, 41 x 68 x 34 cm

This small walnut chest, dating to the mid-16th century, is a fine example of the refined Lombard cabinetmaking tradition that found one of its most prolific centers in 16th-century Milan. The structure, rectangular in shape and compact in proportions, rests on four elegant, finely carved lion’s-paw feet. The entire outer surface is covered with a dense star motif created by minute inlays of bone fragments set into the warm brown of the walnut: the chromatic contrast between the two materials produces a highly refined decorative effect, enlivening the wood with a regular geometric rhythm. The upper border, punctuated by a series of small bone dots, frames the main panel and lends the object a sense of formal completeness. At the center of the front is a small metal lock, the only visible functional element, which attests to the piece’s original purpose: to safeguard precious objects, jewelry, or confidential documents.

This chest can most likely be traced back to the same workshop that operated at the church of Santa Maria della Scala, the famous Milanese parish church demolished in 1776 to make way for the Teatro della Scala designed by Giuseppe Piermarini. That workshop, active in the first half of the 16th century, left as its most impressive legacy the set of nineteen walnut choir stalls, now preserved in the church of San Fedele, where they were transferred at the time of the demolition. The choir, completed around 1560 and attributed stylistically to Anselmo de’ Conti, reveals the same technical mastery found in the chest: geometric motifs, inlays of bone and mother-of-pearl, and marquetry on the upper panels depicting glimpses of an idealized, ancient Milan, featuring arches, pyramids, streams, and architecture of classical and medieval influence. The small chest shares the same decorative language as the choir—the star as a repeated motif, the minute fragment of bone as a point of light against the dark wood—bearing witness to the continuity of a craftsmanship of the highest order.