• Author: Lo Scheggia
• Date: 1450
• Collection: PAINTING
• Technique: Tempera and gold on wood panel
• Dimensions: 88,5 x 303 cm
• Inventory: Inv. 1890 n. 8457

The work is known as the ‘Adimari Cassone’ because, until the start of the last century, it was thought to be the front of a hope chest, an article of furniture usually placed in the bedroom containing the bride’s dowry, given as a wedding present. It was believed to have been made for a wedding of the Adimari family that took place in 1420.

It was actually the centre of a board, a wooden article of furniture hung on walls and, for reasons of style, it cannot be dated before the middle of the 15th century.

The scene depicts a wedding party set in Florence: the Loggia del Bigallo on the left and the Baptistery in the background can be recognised. Under a curtain, in the presence of some musicians, a typical Florentine dance takes place, in which couples move slowly holding each other by the fingers. The characters wear luxurious clothes, adorned with pearls and woven with gold and silver, according to mid-century fashion. On the left, two servants are carrying a basin and a stand into a dwelling: this is probably the procession accompanying the bride to her husband’s new home, together with a rich array of gifts (domumductio).

The painter, formerly known as Master of the Adimari Cassone, has been identified as Giovanni di ser Giovanni, known as Lo Scheggia, brother of the famous Masaccio, who specialised in the production of luxury furniture and chests of drawers for noble Florentine families, always poised between Renaissance innovation and extreme Gothic elegance.