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Lot Essay
Although the carving of grotesque ornaments derive from antique prototypes, the idea of reproducing them was first introduced in Northern Italian workshops of artists such as the Lombardi and Bambaia in the second half of the 15th century.
The present panels adopt the same decorative style as the 15th century examples, but vary slightly in the composition, being much more elaborate and compact. Although this type of carving was certainly produced by the Fontainbleau school in the 16th century, perhaps the closest comparisons can be seen in the panelling of Florentine rooms and furniture in the last two decades of the 19th century. The best examples are, for example, the Sala delle Adunanze by Giuseppe Partini in 1895-7, the reliefs by Luigi Frullini of circa 1872 and the monumental fireplace monument by Egisto Gajani of circa 1888 housed in the Museo Stibbert, Florence (see S. Chiarugi, Botteghe di Mobilieri in Toscana, Florence, 1994, nos. 418, 425-6 and 446 respectively).
The present panels adopt the same decorative style as the 15th century examples, but vary slightly in the composition, being much more elaborate and compact. Although this type of carving was certainly produced by the Fontainbleau school in the 16th century, perhaps the closest comparisons can be seen in the panelling of Florentine rooms and furniture in the last two decades of the 19th century. The best examples are, for example, the Sala delle Adunanze by Giuseppe Partini in 1895-7, the reliefs by Luigi Frullini of circa 1872 and the monumental fireplace monument by Egisto Gajani of circa 1888 housed in the Museo Stibbert, Florence (see S. Chiarugi, Botteghe di Mobilieri in Toscana, Florence, 1994, nos. 418, 425-6 and 446 respectively).