Marquetry

Le secrétaire à gradin (inv. V4081) conservé au musée  du Louvre a fait l’objet d’une restauration en 2013 dans les ateliers du Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France (C2RMF), au pavillon de Flore. L’intervention s’est accompagnée d’une importante étude matérielle de la partie polychromée de la marqueterie. Les procédés de mise en œuvre de la couche picturale et de la couche de corne qui la protège ont nécessité d’adapter  la méthodologie par le couplage de multiples techniques d’examens et d’analyses. Le recoupement de l’ensemble des données a permis de caractériser finement les matériaux utilisés pour deux interventions distinctes de polychromies et de mieux cerner les dates de leur mise en œuvre.

The Louvre’s drop-front secretary desk with drawers (inv. V4081) was restored in 2013 in the workshops of the Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France (C2RMF), in the Pavillon de Flore. The restoration went hand in hand with a detailed material study of the polychromed part of the marquetry. The manner of applying the layer of pigment and the veneer of horn that protected it required the methodology to be adapted through the interaction of multiple tests and analysis techniques. By cross-referencing all the data obtained, the materials used for the two separate polychromy procedures were distinguished and dated more precisely.

Conocemos por marquetería a la decoración efectuada encolando sobre la superficie de un mueble piezas de diferentes materiales y formas. En castellano se puede utilizar también el termino taracea como sinónimo de marquetería, su diferencia esta en el origen de la palabra, taracea de origen árabe y marquetería de origen francés o catalán. 1 Esta técnica surge en Egipto relacionada con la necesidad de aprovechar la madera, (un material costoso y escaso en este país). Aparece a la vez que la técnica constructiva de bastidores y paneles, creada para dar una mayor movilidad a la madera en los cambios de estación y ahorrar material. Los materiales 2 utilizados son muy variados, desde todo tipo de maderas, metales, piedras, paja, ha otros de origen animal como asta, carey, nácar, hueso o marfil. Embutido Las técnicas de trabajo son muy diferentes dependiendo de la época, país o material. Quizás la más antigua sea el embutido sobre macizo, técnica de probable origen egipcio y consistente en incidir sobre la superficie del mueble cajeando unos huecos, donde se embuten pequeñas piezas. Se busca un gran contraste cromático entre los dife-rentes elementos de la decoración que normalmente son de carácter geométrico. Los materiales se cortan con formones, cuchillas o gubias. En ocasiones lo que se embute no son pequeñas piezas, sino cenefas que ocupan solo una parte del espacio decorativo, que se cajea para que tanto la decoración como el fondo quede a la misma altura, impidiendo que se despegue por rozamiento. Generalmente estas cenefas se construyen con la técnica de paquetes. Marquetería de paquetes Esta consiste en la realización de un paquete poliédrico, en cuya sección este el motivo decorativo que nosotros queremos colocar sobre la superficie del mueble. Este paquete se realiza encolando

This paper investigates the reception of public clocks in wooden marquetry panels, starting from the earliest representations of the late 15th century. Inlaid images of identifiable tower clocks part of urban views (mostly of Northern and Central Italian towns) as well as non-identifiable ones are presented, along with inlaid representations of early alarums and other fascinating mechanisms. The importance and meaning of time-keeping devices for religious and civic communities are illustrated and reasons are provided for finding more numerous early depictions in wooden tarsias than in paintings.

The Elector of Saxony’s wire drawing bench is an extremely complicated piece of art and technology which is relatively unknown outside France and Germany. It deserves to be more widely known not only amongst the general public, but also art and cultural historians too due to its unique straddling of the Renaissance art and scientific world. Given the lack of Anglophone materials, I present a full and original description of its marquetry images to fill this gap in the literature and I explore aspects of their iconography using a re-emerging art historical theory called the geography of art.

To make full sense of the bench using this method, the word ‘geography’ needs to be interpreted in its broadest sense, from physical to social. In my survey, I touch on the vast areas of contemporary European religious sectarianism and the increasing awareness of a German national identity. At a local level, I take into account the seasonal courtly pastime of hunting techniques, local flora and fauna, and the importance of the resource rich natural environment around Dresden.

This seemingly disparate collection of topics is brought together by the Elector’s unique bench which ultimately reflects his Saxony. When he was within his Kunstkammer perfecting the manufacture of silver wire, he was positioning himself actively at the centre of his known, manageable, and mastered world.

The thesis deals with the work of a carpentry workshop at the Augustinian monastery in Brno, led by the lay brother Bernard Stöttner between 1737 and 1782. This carpenter contributed to the several construction projects, especially in their interiors, which were realized during the function period of the prelate Matthäus Pertscher, during which the representative reconstruction of the Brno monastery was finished, or a new churches in Nové Hvězdlice and in a subsidiary monastery of Jevíčko were built. The text of the thesis describes the participation of Bernard in these or other projects and contributes to the known history of his well known realization – the monastic library. Attention is paid to the relocation of the library, which took place after the forced migration of the monastic community to a new place in Staré Brno, as well as to its original form. The main part of the work, however, focuses to the hitherto unexamined furniture of the sacristy, whose original look is reconstructed together with the original space in which it was located. Last but not least, the thesis focuses on the biography of brother Bernard, the equipment of his workshop or the formal analysis of the library and sacristy furniture, including comparison with other sacral furniture pieces in Brno.

The marquetries that can be seen in the 17th century choir stalls of the church of San Bartolomeo in Bergamo date back to the beginning of sixteenth century and were made by the Dominican inlayer fra Damiano Zambelli. Originally they were installed in «banchi» (benches) commissioned by the nobleman Alessandro Martinengo Colleoni to decorate his own funerary chapel in the ancient Dominican church of Santo Stefano. The reconstruction of the original aspect of the pieces of furniture is possible analysing the marquetries’ dimensions and comparing them with similar works of art made by fra Damiano during his stay in Bologna. The documents suggest to date the decoration of Alessandro Martinengo Colleoni’s benches at the beginning of 1520s, when a hard activity of Zambelli shop is attested. This commission represents the last step of a complex operation to renovate the main chapel of the Dominican church, started some years before with the publication of Lorenzo Lotto’s astonishing Pala Martinengo. As it is documented by the ancient sources, the cartoons for Zambelli’s marquetries were provided by some Milanese artists, painters and architects (Troso da Monza, Bramantino, Zenale). Their involvement can be explained considering the social and cultural relationship that existed between Milan and Bergamo at the beginning of the 16th century. Restarting from scholars’ last theories, new comparisons are presented, in order to clarify the role of Milanese artists in drawing scenes, groups and architectures for the wooden panels. Moreover the hypothesis that fra Damiano could have been influenced by contemporary prints and local works of art is discussed.

La restauration d’une oeuvre de mobilier offre
l’opportunité de s’intéresser à la colle qui assure le maintien des
différents éléments sur la structure en bois. Une nouvelle technique
d’investigation des colles, jusque-là absente des laboratoires
français dédiés à l’étude du patrimoine, a été évaluée et validée
pour connaître l’origine animale de ce matériau

The restoration of a piece of furniture offers researchers
a chance to study the glue used to hold the different parts of the
wooden structure together. A new investigative method of
determining the adhesive used, previously unavailable in French
laboratories reserved for cultural heritage studies, was tested and
validated. It confirmed the animal origin of this glue.

La réflexion sur le remplacement du traditionnel vernis à
la gomme-laque par une autre couche de finition a débuté en 2002
au C2RMF. Elle avait pour but de mettre en évidence les éventuelles
relations entre dégradation et composition du vernis, d’évaluer le
rôle de protection sur les bois de vernis de compositions différentes
et enfin d’étudier l’influence de la lumière sur l’évolution dans le
temps des bois ainsi vernis. L’expérimentation mise en oeuvre s’est
focalisée sur un vernis décrit dans L’Art du menuisier-ébéniste
publié par André-Jacob Roubo en 1774. Plusieurs tests de mesure
d’épaisseur, d’apparence et de propriété mécanique ont été réalisés
sur des éprouvettes de bois de placage recouverts du vernis
sélectionné. Les résultats encourageants de son effet protecteur à la
photo-oxydation et à l’oxygène de l’air ont permis de mettre en place
un protocole en vue de son application comme protection de surface
pour le mobilier en marqueterie de métal du musée du Louvre.
Reflection on replacing traditional shellac varnishes
with another finish began in 2002 at the C2RMF. The aim was to
highlight the possible relationship between deterioration and the
composition of the varnish, to assess the role played by protective
coatings made of different ingredients on wood and, lastly, to study
the long-term effects of light on woods thus varnished. The
experiments conducted focused on a varnish described in L’Art du
menuisier-ébéniste, published by André-Jacob Roubo in 1774.
Several tests to measure thickness, appearance and mechanical
properties were carried out on samples of veneer coated in the
selected varnish. The encouraging results of its resistance to photooxidation
and the oxygen in the air enabled us to establish a
protocol for applying it to protect the surface of the metal marquetry
furniture now in the Louvre.

in Writing Material Culture History, Giorgio Riello and Anne Gerritsen eds., London and New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015

Despite this volume addressing themes in material culture, the images are very poorly reproduced and are only in black and white.

Better quality images, in colour, of the bureau under discussion here can be found here:
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O299301/bureau-mazarin/

If the link no longer works, the images can be accessed via the V&A, via 'search the collections'. Type 'bureau mazarin' into the search line and scroll down to find the images.

La récente campagne de restauration, au sein des ateliers
du C2RMF, d’un ensemble de meubles du musée du Louvre
décorés de marqueterie Boulle a été l’occasion de s’intéresser aux
pigments utilisés pour mettre en couleur les parties en corne et en
écaille de tortue. Cette étude conduite exclusivement à partir de
micro-prélèvements a confirmé la technicité complexe de la mise en
oeuvre de ces couleurs.

Undertaken in the C2RMF workshops, the recent
restoration of pieces of furniture decorated with Boulle marquetry
from the Louvre, provided an occasion to examine the pigments
used to add colour to the parts made of horn and turtle shell. This
study, based on micro-samples alone, confirmed the complex
techniques involved in the application of these colours.

Lorenzo Lotto e l’intarsiatore fra Damiano Zambelli (1480 circa - 1549) ebbero modo di sperimentare a Bergamo una convivenza pluriennale, nei cantieri patrocinati dal capitano Alessandro Martinengo Colleoni per i Domenicani del convento dei Santi Stefano e Domenico: Lotto dal 1513 fu incaricato di realizzare la monumentale pala per l’altare maggiore e in seguito eseguì affreschi per il pontile della chiesa; mentre Zambelli entro il 1528 si impegnò nella decorazione dei «banchi di tarsia» per la cappella gentilizia.
Proprio le tarsie zambelliane, con la loro innovativa predilezione per storie popolate da numerosi personaggi, costituiscono il precedente più significativo dell’evoluzione narrativa che la tarsia bergamasca intraprese qualche tempo dopo nei pannelli eseguiti sui disegni di Lotto per il nuovo coro della basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. Come è noto, "trait d’union" tra i due cantieri fu il giovane maestro Giovanni Francesco Capoferri, prima attivo presso fra Damiano per il perfezionamento professionale e poi direttore dei lavori nella prestigiosa commessa del Consorzio della Misericordia. Accanto a lui, altri artisti si mossero tra le due fabbriche e risultano documentati a diverse altezze cronologiche in entrambe le imprese, a indicare che nel più tardo coro di Santa Maria Maggiore, almeno nella prima fase dei lavori, si espresse una cultura artigianale locale di impronta zambelliana – nata tra le pareti della chiesa domenicana – con la quale Lotto si trovò presto a fare i conti.
Il confronto tra la scuola zambelliana e quella lottesca, ciascuna caratterizzata dal proprio modus operandi, non dovette risolversi del tutto pacificamente. Il tono delle parole usate dallo stesso Lotto
in una nota lettera del luglio 1526 indirizzata al Consorzio della Misericordia – parole riprese nel titolo di questo contributo – farebbe pensare a una relazione gravemente compromessa con fra Damiano. Indipendentemente dalle conflittualità personali, gli effetti del confronto non tardarono a manifestarsi. Da un lato il cantiere di Santa Maria Maggiore rimase inevitabilmente condizionato da certe peculiarità del precedente modello zambelliano; dall’altro fra Damiano si servì positivamente del rapporto con la nuova esperienza lottesca.

in Writing Material Culture History, Giorgio Riello and Anne Gerritsen eds., London and New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015 Despite this volume addressing themes in material culture, the images are very poorly reproduced and are only in black and white. Better quality images, in colour, of the bureau under discussion here can be found here: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O299301/bureau-mazarin/ If the link no longer works, the images can be accessed via the V&A, via 'search the collections'. Type 'bureau mazarin' into the search line and scroll down to find the images.

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