A panel from a 15th century Italian marriage chest, or cassone, will be presented by Moretti Fine Art at the Biennale des Antiquaires (Stand N15) which takes place at the Grand Palais, Paris, from Friday 14 to Sunday 23 September 2012.
15th/early 16th century cassone panel painted with ‘A battle Scene’, 45.4 x 160.4 cm.
The panel is painted with a battle scene and recent cleaning has revealed its extraordinary quality, suggesting that the cassone was made for a nobleman of considerable standing and further study is currently being undertaken into its early history.
The panel has a notable provenance having presumably been acquired by Alexander, Lord Lindsay, later 25th Earl of Crawford and 8th of Balcarres (1812-1880). It then passed to his son and heir, James, and then to David, 27th Earl of Crawford and 10th of Balcarres who sold it at a London auction house in 1946 as a complete cassone, the front panel described as ‘classical battle scene in the manner of the Master of the Cassone’. It was then in the collection of Sir Thomas Merton, F.R.S. (1888-1969), the English scientist, inventor and art connoisseur and collector until sold again at in 1979 as by the Master of the Anghiari Battle. – www.morettigallery.com