Two-tiered Cabinet

FRANCE

1575

Decorative Arts and Design

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

A tall, ornate wooden cabinet with two tiers, featuring carved relief panels and decorative architectural elements. The cabinet is made of dark wood with inlaid marble accents. Two-tiered cabinets illustrate the flowering of the French Renaissance in the decorative arts. Their form reflects the architecture of the period in the incorporation of pediments, cornices, friezes, consoles and columns. Many such pieces originated in sixteenth-century Parisian workshops on the Île-de-France. The strong Italian influence, evident in the design of works from the School of Fontainebleau region in the early sixteenth century, is still to be found in the decoration of this later example, with its inlaid marble plaques and panels elaborately carved in low relief. The wood used is walnut, as was common for quality furnit