12: Western European Furniture of the Baroque and Rococo Periods

Chest of drawers

Mid-18th century

Venice, Italy

82x120x58 cm

Pine painted with oil paints, bronze

The Rococo had strongly distinctive features in Venice. In the colourful, striking city with its old traditions, the rocaille forms rapidly took firm root. Venetian craftsmen produced chests of drawers with a curved shape, but rather than veneering them, as was customary in the rest of Europe, they painted them with different coloured bouquets and flowers on a light background. They emphasized constructional elements and drawers by outlining them in a contrasting colour and decorating them with carving. The tops of such chests of drawers and small cupboards were also painted, but in this case in imitation of the marble that was often used for such surfaces.