House altar, in the form of a painted scene of 'The Flight into Egypt', in oil on lapis lazuli, within a baroque frame of ebony, hardstone and tortoiseshell. Italian, Rome, 1635-45

House altar in the form of a miniature aedicule or altarpiece, of ebony, set with hardstones, with a central scene of the 'Flight into Egypt', showing Mary on a donkey with the Christ child, accompanied by St. Joseph, next to a date palm. This scene is painted in oil colours on a panel of lapis lazuli. It is framed in hardstones (the ground of the frame in brown (Sicilian) jasper, set with alternate, shaped plaques of tortoiseshell and agate, both against a gilded ground), set between ebony mouldings, the individual plaques framed with ebony fillets edged with pewter stringing. The frame sits between and behind two columns of amethyst, with bases in gilt-brass and capitals in gilt metal, probably gilt-brass or gilt-copper, but possibly silver-gilt. The bases sit on shallow plinths, the front edges set with agate, framed in ebony.

The main panel and columns are set on a shallow base, with breakfront sections forming plinths to the columns, the whole set on a larger, straight-fronted plinth. The fronts of the breakfront sections are set with panels of lapis lazuli, within ebony frames and the central section with shaped plaques of green jasper, carnelian (?) and agate, all framed as the plaques of the main frame are. The outermost sections of the base are set with green (Bohemian) jasper, framed in ebony. Above these sections are scrolling reversed consoles, veneered on the front with a reddish ebony, with pewter stringing, the recess above the scroll on each side veneered with yellow jasper (from Volterra). These each sit on shallow plinths, the front set with lapis lazuli within an ebony frame. The top of the main plinth is veneered with ebony, the front set with black and white striped fluorite, set with shaped plaques of quartz and lapis lazuli, framed in the same manner as the main frame. The underside of the altar shows two screw holes into the oak carcase, suggesting that a lower element is now missing.

The columns support an entablature of ebony mouldings, with a frieze faced with red and white jasper (Sicilian), with breakfront sections above each column. Above this a broken scrolling pediment in ebony flanks a recessed attic section set with a central rectangular panel of carnelian and alabaster, framed in ebony against a shaped panel of lapis lazuli with a convex button of green jasper (?), framed in ebony, and this in turn set against a ground of a greenish yellow stone, edges with scrolls of ebony with pewter stringing. Beyond this, on each side, is a plinth which surmounts the broken pediment, the edged scrolling and veneered in ebony, with pewter stringing, the plinths in ebony. The central panels are surmounted by a triangular pediment outlined in ebony mouldings, supported on two low plinths with friezes set with a green hardstone. The ground within the triangular pediment is set with a panel of amethyst.

The house altar is built in three sections (base, main panel and entablature), joined with miniature bolts. The sub-structure is of oak. The back is lined with red, flocked paper, to cover the joints.

The house altar is missing 3 small sections of ebony moulding and one section of the frieze (over the left column) is missing and the area painted in. The main panel is cracked in several places in the lower half and these areas have been painted over. It is possible that a further base section or plinth is now missing from the piece.

Purchased before 1856 for £18. The numbered label on the base, inscribed '209' may relate to the lot number of an auction.

A similar house altar is shown in the catalogue Spendori di Pietre Dure. L'Arte di Corte nella Firenza dei Granduchi, published for the exhibition of this name shown at the Centro Mostre di Firenze, the Opificio delle Pietre Dure and the Sala Bianca at the Palazzo Pitti, Florence, 21 December 1988 to 30 April 1989; no. 29, from the Palazzo Palavicini, Rome. That piece has a further moulded base or plinth is ebony and the V&A piece may originally have had something similar.

Lent to the exhibition, Madonnas and Miracles: The Holy Home in Renaissance Italy at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 7 March - 4 June 2017

When acquired it was described as 'Florentine'.

This small house altar was designed as the focus of private prayer at home and its architectural frame mimics the full-scale design for altars and altarpieces that would have been found in Italian churches at that time. The variety of rich hardstones (pietre dure) with which it is decorated, also echo, in richer form, the marbles used to decorate churches.

The central scene shows ‘The Flight into Egypt’, with the Holy Family fleeing from Bethlehem to escape the Roman ruler Herod, who, in an attempt to kill the infant Christ, had ordered the massacre of all boy children under two years of age.

Although ebony had been known in Europe for centuries, it was only in the early seventeenth century that trading expeditions to Asia made it more widely available. It was prized for its deep, black colour, which here provide a wonderful foil for the brilliant tones of the various hardstones and for the tortoiseshell, set against a reddish colour, to make it eve more dramatic.

1556-1856