Cassetta frame
Unknown Artist
ca. 1500–1510
Medium
Poplar or spruce. Fragments of canvas in rebate. Gilt; red-orange bole, blue sgrafitto.
Dimensions
Overall: 32 5/16 × 28 3/8 in. (82 × 72 cm) Sight: 26 1/8 × 22 3/16 in. (66.4 × 56.4 cm) Rabbet: 27 7/16 × 23 1/2 in. (69.7 × 59.7 cm)
Classification
Frames
Culture
Venetian
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.2119
Art Historical Context
Step into the opulent world of Renaissance Venice with this exquisite *Cassetta* frame, around 1500–1510 by an unknown Venetian artist.etta frames, meaning "little box" in Italian, were a hallmark of Venetian Renaissance design—architectural in form, with a deep, molded profile that cradled panel paintings like jewels in a setting. This example, from the Robert Lehman at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, about 32 × 28 inches overall, its sight window revealing a rabbet once holding a canvas, of which faint fragments remain. Masterfully constructed from poplar or spruce wood, the frame gleams wi...