The history of Russian chest craft (19th – early 20th centuries). Collection of scientific articles
scientific literature, this topic has not received sufficient coverage, although in some works there are references to the image of certain chests and caskets in paintings, book miniatures, frescoes, icon painting72. Researchers most often only state the fact of the image of certain chest products. Perhaps the most thorough research in this area belongs to the german researcher Paul Schubring73. His work, however, deals only with italian cassones (wedding chests).
This paper attempts to summarize information on this topic, trace the features of the image of chest products in the works of easel and monumental painting, book graphics.
It should be emphasized that the author involved only the most demonstrative works of art. The number of images of chests and caskets is truly limitless, it is impossible to cover everything in one review.
I
As early as in the painting of antique vases one can see chests and caskets with flat or sloping lids, each of which consists of four pillars and walls made of several planks. Sometimes the products are depicted in such detail that not only the design differs, but also the colors and ornamental motifs. These items were used in religious ceremonies and as home furniture. As an example antique vases from the Hermitage collection can be indicated74. Based on these drawings, we can conclude that the oldest design used to create furniture in ancient Egypt has retained its popularity.
Images of chests and caskets in Italian Renaissance art are most common. Some of them are made very carefully, so they are used as historical sources. A fresco by Giotto from the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua (1304—1306; in the scene of the Annunciation to St. Anne) shows a large red chest with a flat lid and straight walls. It is upholstered with thin iron strips, on the front side there is a figured metal plate protecting the lock. According to Italian tradition, the chest is in the bedroom. In this case, we can name two works by the Sienese artist Sano di Pietro. The first is The Nativity of the Virgin (1448—1452), in which cassone chests stand along the beds75. The front side of each of them is decorated with a painted floral ornament against a gold background, located in three rectangular figures. Since the lids on the chests are flat, the latter are used as benches. In another work by Sano di Pietro, The Birth and Naming of John the Baptist (1450—60)76 cassons are also located along the beds. Unlike the chests depicted on the previous canvas, they are devoid of painting. Their only decoration is profiled panels. Antonello da Messina on the canvas «Saint Jerome at work» (around1475)77 depicted a small chest with a flat lid and carved legs, reminiscent of Stollenrtuhe (one of the common types of chests). It is locatecd to the right of the saint. The item is devoid of any decorations, it is simple and elegant. And in the famous painting by Titian «Venus of Urbino» (1538)78 two chests are shown in the background. They have rounded walls and are decorate perhaps with intarsia. The ornament consists of whimsically twisting vegetative scrolls and anthropomorphic images. Even on the front panels of the chests themselves, wedding cassones were depicted, as, for example, on a Florentine work of the 15th century from the collection of the State Hermitage79. Two servants on a donkey carry richly decorated chests with sloping lids. Their sizes do not correspond to the real ones. Examples of the image of Italian chests on frescoes, canvases and panels can be listed almost endlessly. Thus, based on the images examined, it can be concluded that chest production has developed significantly: in the 15th century in Italy, various designs and techniques for decorating products were used.
Painters of other countries also paid attention to chest items. On the triptych of Pieter Aartsen «Adoration of the Magi» (1560)80 a large chest is depicted in some detail. It has a sloping lid reinforced with thin wooden strips from the inside; walls are straight, upholstered with iron strips, on the sides there are handles and terer are no legs. The chest may have been upholstered with leather having an ornament made in the embossing technique. And on the canvas of Hieronymus Bosch «Death of a Merchant» (1485—1490)81 even more detailed than the thing discussed above, a chest is depicted, reproducing the design of tuugkist («sarcophagus») chests. In the grooves of the four «pillars» the boards are strengthened (they also form the legs) that make up the walls. The lid is flat, it was raised and lowered with the help of wooden hinges. The front side of the chest (lower part) is decorated with geometric motifs performed in carving technique. Attention is drawn to the powerful iron plate that protects the key hole. It consists of two parts of different shapes (triangular and round), superimposed on each other. A long iron hinge is attached to the lid. The title is on the left. An interesting detail shows how the lid was held up: a dagger was used. In German painting, images of chest products are no less common. They can be seen, for example, on Stefan Lochner’s Altar of the Cologne City Cartridge (after 1426), on his own painting Madonna in the Gazebo (1440), on the left wing of the Isenheim Altarpiece by Matthias Grunewald (1506—1515). There is a chest with flat lids and walls, consisting of paneled panels; a chest with a flat lid, the walls of which are connected «in a dovetail»; richly decorated casket with a gable lid. The desire of German painters for a reliable depiction of objects (which is called by researchers as one of the features of German Renaissance painting82) made it possible to consider their canvases as a source of the history of everyday life.
The collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art contains a portrait of Sir Anthony Mildmay (around 1590—1593) by the English painter Nicholas Hilliard (around 1547—1619)83. To the right of the person being portrayed there is a large black chest with a sloping lid, upholstered with iron strips arranged as a checked one. On the front side there are three figured iron hinges. Among the furnishings of the tent of an English aristocrat, the chest occupies one of the main places.
By the 18th—19th centuries, when chests gradually fell into disuse in the higher social strata, their appearance changed. Like the other changes mentioned above, this was also reflected in painting. An idea of such chests can be given by numerous canvases and drawings by the famous Norwegian artist Adolf Tidemand (1814—1876), stored in the National Museum of Art, architecture and design (Oslo). For example, on the «The old pantry in Vik» (1867)84 four large peasant chests are depicted. They are decorated with paintings (this is the traditional Norwegian «rosemåling») and iron figured strips. They have sloping lids and high carved plinths. Similar products are kept in many museums in Scandinavia.
If we are talking about the countries of Eastern Europe, then it is necessary to mention the altar image «The adoration of the Magi» (1514) from the Peter and Paul Church of the village of Drysviaty, Braslav district, Vitebsk region85. One of the characters is holding a wooden casket upholstered with figured iron strips. The casket is depicted in great detail, the master obviously had some kind of sample before his eyes. The walls of the product are decorated with carved ornaments, consisting of floral scrolls and plot scenes. The gable cover is devoid of decorations. This image can serve as reliable evidence of the early acquaintance of Belarusian craftsmen with European products.
Another type of art, where images of chests and caskets are found, was engraving. Especially often German, Dutch and French artists and engravers turned to this plot. On the engraving of Albrecht Dürer «Saint Jerome» (1511)86 among the many furnishings of the cell there is a small chest with a flat lid and a figured metal mask. It is placed on a high carved plinth. On the side walls there are figured cast handles. And on the engraving «A young couple and