Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A large, long, usually ornate chest, popular in Renaissance Italy and used especially to hold a bride's dowry goods or other possessions.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A great chest; specifically, one of the Italian bridal chests or richly decorated coffers which were made in Italy in the middle ages and later to contain the more costly part of the bridal outfit.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A highly-decorated traditional Italian dowry chest.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Italian, from Old Italian, augmentative of cassa, box, case, from Latin capsa.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Italian cassone.

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Examples

  • These are the only cassoni to survive with their spalliere intact, so they are very important in thinking about how the cassone worked with its related items.

    Love and Marriage in Renaissance Florence (Courtauld Gallery, London, 12 Feb-17 May 2009) Miglior acque 2009

  • Its contents mirror the core genres of stories depicted on cassone frontals: Roman poetry, contemporary Tuscan verse, ancient Greek, Roman, biblical and modern history.

    Love and Marriage in Renaissance Florence (Courtauld Gallery, London, 12 Feb-17 May 2009) Miglior acque 2009

  • A telling example is the narrative cycle painted on a cassone, attributed to Filippino Lippi (1457 – 1504), probably commissioned by wealthy Florentine Jews.

    Art: Representation of Biblical Women. 2009

  • These are the only cassoni to survive with their spalliere intact, so they are very important in thinking about how the cassone worked with its related items.

    Archive 2009-03-01 Miglior acque 2009

  • Its contents mirror the core genres of stories depicted on cassone frontals: Roman poetry, contemporary Tuscan verse, ancient Greek, Roman, biblical and modern history.

    Archive 2009-03-01 Miglior acque 2009

  • Our aesthetic interest, accustomed to perking up before autonomous works of art that are usually framed and on canvas, often flags before the spallieras and the cassone panels that figure so prominently in this show, images originally intended to adorn the chests and wainscotings of bridal chambers.

    An Unusual Renaissance Portrait 2008

  • The exhibition also includes some of the rarest and most significant pieces of Renaissance glassware, cassone panels, birth trays, and drawings and prints of amorous subjects.

    Archive 2008-12-01 Julianne Douglas 2008

  • The exhibition also includes some of the rarest and most significant pieces of Renaissance glassware, cassone panels, birth trays, and drawings and prints of amorous subjects.

    Art and Love in Renaissance Italy Julianne Douglas 2008

  • But there was only one cassone and it was really quite basic.

    Archive 2006-12-01 Miglior acque 2006

  • But there was only one cassone and it was really quite basic.

    Two Exhibitions: A Perspective Miglior acque 2006

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