Veronese School, early 16th centuryThe Triumph of Chastity; and the Triumph of Love
a pair, oil on panel
28.2 x 45.7cm (11 1/8 x 18in). (2)注脚Provenance
Private Collection, Berlin from the early years of the 20th century, and by descent to Henry Trubner
Thence by descent through the family

Exhibited
On loan to Seattle Art Museum, 1970-2018

When a marriage celebrated the alliance of two patrician families in renaissance Italy it was commonplace for the event to be marked by the exchange of furniture and furnishings for the new home. Pairs of cassoni were among the most popular wedding gifts from the late 14th century until well into the 16th century, serving both as storage chests for clothes and as seating. They were usually richly decorated with pastiglia ornamentation and gilding and the most impressive examples included painted panels on the front and sides; the subjects of the paintings were intended to provoke discussion with subjects that were instructive or uplifting, and the theme of chastity (represented by the unicorn) and love (represented both by Cupid and by the boar, symbol of carnal love) illustrated in the present panels strongly suggests that they would have adorned just such a wedding chest. A cassone displaying two panels of similar subjects is in the collection of the Museo di Castelvecchio, Verona, inv. 48-1B838 and illustrated in P. Marini et al, Museo di Castelvecchio. Catalogo generale dei dipinti e delle miniature delle collezioni civiche veronesi. Dalla fine del X all'inizio del XVI secolo, 2010, pp. 227-229 (according to the Fondazione Zeri website).


Henry (Heinz) Trubner (b.1920) was Curator of Asian Art at the Seattle Art Museum 1968-1987, and these panels were on loan to the Museum from 1970-2018, reference number T.L. 71.1-.4. He was the nephew of Edgar Worch (1880 - 1972), the renowned antiques dealer who specialised in oriental art.