Master of the Cassoni Campana Active in Florence in the early sixteenth century
Eurydice and her companions
Oil on panel: Height: 58 Width: 145 cm
Estimate: €350,000-550,000.
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The November 18, 2014 Old Masters sale at Artcurial in Paris includes this elegant cassone panel by an as yet unidentified 16th century painter in Florence. The catalogue entry suggests the artist was originally from France and that this painting is related to two other works, one in Paris (fig. 1, below) and the other in Dublin (fig.2, below), which were once part of the same panel. Scholarly has focused on the French painter Antonio di Jacopo Antonio Gallo or Gallo Fiorentino, documented in Florence between 1503 and 1527, as the Master of the Cassoni Campana (a more detailed biography can be found on pages 42-43 of Grassi Studio’s 2013 catalogue for TEFAF).
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The National Gallery provides this description on cassone:
Cassone (plural cassoni) is the Italian word for chest or box. Long low cassoni were often made in pairs or groups of three in Italy during the 15th and 16th centuries. They were used for storage in a domestic setting, and were at first probably associated with the giving of a dowry although usually by the mid-15th century part of a scheme of refurbishment conducted by the bridegroom’s family on the occasion of a wedding. (See entry for Spalliera).
Such pieces of furniture were often richly decorated with carving, gilding and painted panels. Narratives were usually depicted on the sides, often illustrating acts of heroism or love.
The painting framed.
