Antique Grand Tour Box by Giovanni Battista Gatti, 1850

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Important Grand Tour Box
Giovanni Battista Gatti (Faenza 1816 – Rome 1889)

Refined and significant Grand Tour box richly decorated … Read more Important Grand Tour Box
Giovanni Battista Gatti (Faenza 1816 – Rome 1889)

Refined and significant Grand Tour box richly decorated with intricate marquetry, a work by Giovanni Battista Gatti, one of the most important and celebrated Italian marquetry masters of the second half of the nineteenth century and a leading figure of the Neo-Renaissance revival in European cabinetmaking.

Rectangular box decorated on all sides with an elaborate Neo-Renaissance ornamental repertoire, executed in polychrome marquetry on a dark ground and conceived according to a rigorously symmetrical and harmoniously balanced decorative scheme.

The lid displays a complex architectural composition centered on an oval medallion depicting the Colosseum, rendered with remarkable graphic refinement and perspectival sensitivity. The scene is surrounded by broad scrolling foliage and vegetal motifs composed through the refined juxtaposition of contrasting tones, creating painterly chiaroscuro effects.

A continuous border decorated with Renaissance grotesques — composed of scrolling foliage, palmettes, and stylized vegetal elements — frames the central field and reinforces the architectural character of the design, directly inspired by sixteenth-century models. At the corners, square reserves depict celebrated Roman landmarks, including the Pantheon, Castel Sant’Angelo, and St. Peter’s Basilica, executed with exceptional miniature precision characteristic of Gatti’s finest production.

The sides of the box are articulated by alternating decorative panels featuring arabesques, ornamental cartouches, and interlacing floral motifs enclosed within delicate linear borders that emphasize the geometric clarity of the composition. The quality of the marquetry and the sophisticated chromatic balance demonstrate the mature technical mastery of Gatti’s workshop, capable of transforming decorative surfaces into richly pictorial compositions.

The work fully belongs to the production created for Grand Tour travelers, objects conceived as cultivated souvenirs celebrating Italy’s classical and Renaissance artistic heritage. See less