Chimney Piece thumbnail 1
Chimney Piece thumbnail 2
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On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Chimney Piece

ca. 1466-ca. 1470 (made)
Artist/Maker
Desiderio Da Settignano (workshop of)
Place of origin
Florence (made)

The chimney-piece is closely related in style to the work of Desiderio da Settignano and was previously associated with the marriage of Giovanni Boni and Camilla Marsuppini in 1463. However, the iconography suggests that it was produced in the Desiderio workshop after his death in 1464, probably between Giovanni Boni's death in 1466 and the failure of the family bank in 1470.

The arms in the centre of the frieze are those of the Boni family, who were Florentine silk merchants and bankers. It is possible that the chimney-piece was commissioned to commemorate the deaths of Giovanni Boni (1427-66) and his wife, Camilla Marsuppini, whose portraits, surrounded by winged shells, are included on the frieze.
Brought from a villa at San Miniato, near Florence.

The use of the shell motif to represent salvation appears to derive from Roman funerary monuments where it signified the shell in which the soul was carried to the other world.

Object details

Categories
Sculpture
Architectural Fittings
Object type
Chimney piece
Materials and techniques
Grey, carved sandstone
Sandstone
Carving
Brief description
Sandstone chimney-piece by the workshop of Desiderio da Settignano, Florence, ca. 1466-1470
Physical description
The frieze shows two flying putti in the centre, that on the left naked, that on the right wearing a thin vest, and busts of a young man and young woman near the ends. At the ends are two projecting console brackets carved with a winged girl astride a dolphin and a boy astride a sea monster.
Dimensions
  • Height: 254cm
  • Width: 374.9cm
  • Cornice (upper part) weight: 326kg
  • Frieze weight: 824kg
  • Decorated pilaster (far proper left) weight: 119kg
  • Vertical (inner proper left) weight: 263kg
  • Decorated pilaster (far proper right) weight: 96kg
  • Vertical (inner proper right) weight: 242kg
  • Est. tbc by cons after decant depth: 40cm
  • ( victor borges) weight: 1870kg
Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries
Gallery label
(2004)
5896-1859: Chimney-Piece
Grey sandstone (pietra serena)
Workshop of Desiderio da Settignano (b. about 1430; d. 1464)
Florentine; about 1466-70
The arms in the centre of the frieze are those of the Boni family, who were Florentine silk merchants and bankers. It is possible that the chimney-piece was commissioned to commemorate the deaths of Giovanni Boni (1427-66) and his wife, Camilla Marsuppini, whose portraits, surrounded by winged shells, are included on the frieze. The use of the shell motif to represent salvation appears to derive from Roman funerary monuments where it signified the shell in which the soul was carried to the other world.
The chimney-piece is closely related in style to the work of Desiderio da Settignano and was previously associated with the marriage of Giovanni Boni and Camilla Marsuppini in 1463. However, the iconography suggests that it was produced in the Desiderio workshop after his death in 1464, probably between Giovanni Boni's death in 1466 and the failure of the family bank in 1470.
Object history
The arms in the centre of the frieze are those of the Boni family, who were Florentine silk merchants and bankers. It is possible that the chimney-piece was commissioned to commemorate the deaths of Giovanni Boni (1427-66) and his wife, Camilla Marsuppini, whose portraits, surrounded by winged shells, are included on the frieze.
Brought from a villa at San Miniato, near Florence.

Historical significance: The use of the shell motif to represent salvation appears to derive from Roman funerary monuments where it signified the shell in which the soul was carried to the other world.
Production
The chimney-piece is closely related in style to the work of Desiderio da Settignano and was previously associated with the marriage of Giovanni Boni and Camilla Marsuppini in 1463. However, the iconography suggests that it was produced in Desiderio's workshop after his death in 1464, probably between Giovanni Boni's death in 1466 and the failure of the family bank in 1470.
Subjects depicted
Putti
Dolphin (Animal)
Coat of Arms
Figures
Lion
Children
Summary
The chimney-piece is closely related in style to the work of Desiderio da Settignano and was previously associated with the marriage of Giovanni Boni and Camilla Marsuppini in 1463. However, the iconography suggests that it was produced in the Desiderio workshop after his death in 1464, probably between Giovanni Boni's death in 1466 and the failure of the family bank in 1470.

The arms in the centre of the frieze are those of the Boni family, who were Florentine silk merchants and bankers. It is possible that the chimney-piece was commissioned to commemorate the deaths of Giovanni Boni (1427-66) and his wife, Camilla Marsuppini, whose portraits, surrounded by winged shells, are included on the frieze.
Brought from a villa at San Miniato, near Florence.

The use of the shell motif to represent salvation appears to derive from Roman funerary monuments where it signified the shell in which the soul was carried to the other world.
Bibliographic references
  • Godby, Michael, 'The Boni Chimney-Piece in the Victoria and Albert Museum: A Fifteenth Century Domestic Cenotaph', De Arte, vol. 27, September 1982, pp. 215-233.
  • Darr, Alan and Preyer, Brenda 'Donatello, Desiderio da Settignano and His Brothers and 'Macigni' Sculpture for a Boni Palace in Florence', The Burlington Magazine, vol. 141, December 1999, pp. 720-731.
  • Pellegrini, Laura, 'La produzione di camini a Firenze nel primo Rinascimento' in Giuliano e la Bottega dei da Maiano, (Atti del Convegno Internationale di Studi Fiesole 13-15 giugno 1991), Florence, 1994, pp. 210-212.
  • Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. Text. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1932, p. 41
  • Raggio, Olga, ‘Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum, in Art Bulletin, vol. L, 1968, p. 100.
  • Markham Schulz, Ann, The Sculpture of Bernardo Rossellino and his Workshop, Princeton, 1977, p. 111.
  • Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1859. In: Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, Arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol I. London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 9
  • Pope-Hennessy, John, assisted by Lightbown, Ronald, Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO 1964 (3 volumes), vol. 1, pp. 135-138
  • Bormand, Marc; Paolozzi Strozzi, Beatrice; Penny, Nicolas. Desiderio da Settignano. Sculptor of Renaissance Florence. Exhibiton Catalogue, Musée du Louvre, Paris; Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence; National Art Gallery, Washington, 2007, pp. 30, 32, 80-1, fig. 52, p. 81, p. 220.
  • Motture, P., Jones, E. and Zikos, D., ed. by, Carvings, Casts and Collectors: The Art of Renaissance Sculpture, London, 2013, pp. 40-41.
  • Naldi, Riccardo, Andrea Ferrucci: marmi gentili tra la Toscana e Napoli, Naples, 2002, p. 219.
  • Ajmar-Wollheim, Marta and Flora Dennis, At Home in Renaissance Italy, London: V&A Publishing, 2006, cat. 21
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
5896-1859

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Record createdDecember 15, 1999
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O16281/chimney-piece-desiderio-da-settignano/
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