Cassone depicting three scenes from Roman history

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Maker

(maker)
1400-1599

Title

Cassone depicting three scenes from Roman history

Date of Production

1490 - 1520

Medium

medium : material : wood & iron & tempera

Dimensions

Height: 69 cm
Width: 191 cm
Depth: 62 cm

Object Number

F.1947.LF.6

Mode of Acquisition

Arthur Hamilton Lee, bequest, 1947

Credit

Courtauld Gallery, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

Three painted scenes from the legends of ancient Rome are set within decorative gilded frames at the front of this chest, called a cassone in Italian. The scenes extol virtues concerned with marriage and civic pride.

In the first the virtuous wife Lucretia, shamed by rape, stabs herself to proclaim her honour. The second shows Mucius Scaevola, model of endurance, thrusting his hand into the fire before the Etruscan enemy. The third represents Fabricius Luscinus refusing the offer of gifts from the vanquished Samnites.

Provenance

Lee Bequest 1947

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