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BIAF XXXI edition - the great Fair of Italian Art

Florence, Palazzo Corsini - September 21st  -29th  / Preview September 20th, 2019

Stand 44

Exhibition: The Renaissance Casket from Newbattle Abey

We are delighted to be presenting, in conjunction with Georg Laue, Kunstkammer Ltd, The Renaissance Casket from Newbattle Abbey. Dated 1565, this rare gem of Renaissance furniture forms part of a small group of about a dozen pieces of cabinet work decorated with high quality marquetry depicting geometrical solids and is the only example of its kind remaining in Britain.

The art historian Andrea Bacchi eloquently outlines in this catalogue the unique and important provenance of the Apollo by Antonio Minello – a wonderful example of the Paduan Reinassance – on the occasion of its return onto the art market after a fifty-year absence.

The artist was a favourite of the humanist Marcantonio Michiel; Minello’s sculptures after the antique were the perfect example of the world of splendour and erudite refinement that distinguished both the courts of the Este and the Gonzaga at the beginning of the 16th Century. Excellent in the quality of its execution, Minello’s marble relief, also enjoys a history that is worth rediscovering. Having passed through the hands of the most prestigious art patrons of baroque Rome, at the end the 19th Century it became one of the highlights in count Stroganoff’s collection. It later enriched the important collection of Camillo Castiglioni in Trieste. The latter’s bankrupcy meant that the Apollo then passed into the hands of Giuseppe Sangiorgi, the owner of the most important art gallery in Rome at beginning of the 20th Century.

Season's Greetings and a Happy New Year!