Cassetta frame
Unknown Artist
early 17th century
Medium
Cimolo. Gilt; deep brown bole.
Dimensions
Overall: 31 5/16 × 25 13/16 in. (79.5 × 65.5 cm) Sight: 25 15/16 × 18 15/16 in. (65.9 × 48.1 cm) Rabbet: 26 7/8 × 21 1/4 in. (68.2 × 54 cm)
Classification
Frames
Culture
Lombard
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.1631
Art Historical Context
Nestled in the Robert Lehman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this exquisite Cassetta frame from early 17th-century Lombardy exemplifies the ornate craftsmanship of northern Italian frame-making. Crafted from cimolo—a soft, fine-grained limestone quarried near Venice—the frame measures an impressive 31 5/16 × 25 13/16 inches overall, with a sight size of 25 15/16 × 18 15/16 inches. Its deep brown bole underlayer provides a rich foundation for the gilding, creating a gold surface that catches the light with subtle warmth. Cassetta frames, meaning "little box" in Italian, emerged d...