Stipo a bambocci (plural: ''Stipi a bambocci'') is a writing
cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
, which was made during the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
in Upper
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and which can be locked by a fall-front.
The characteristic features of the stipo a bambocci are the carved small, chubby child-figures. In the history of furniture-design these cabinets appear unique in their decoration through their shape and design.
On some surviving examples the bambocci-figures correspond with each other and are composed in a certain
iconographical
Iconology is a method of interpretation in cultural history and the history of the visual arts used by Aby Warburg, Erwin Panofsky and their followers that uncovers the cultural, social, and historical background of themes and subjects in the visu ...
context, such as the Expulsion from the Garden of Eden on one cabinet in the
Castello Sforzesco
The Castello Sforzesco (Italian for "Sforza's Castle") is a medieval fortification located in Milan, northern Italy. It was built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, on the remnants of a 14th-century fortification. Later reno ...
in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
.
The wood used for construction is walnut as well as
burr-
walnut and partly even the costly imported
Caucasian walnut
''Pterocarya fraxinifolia'' is a species of tree in the Juglandaceae family. It is commonly known as the Caucasian wingnut or Caucasian walnut. It is native to the Caucasian region Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Russia, Ukraine and Turk ...
.
Workshop
On the basis of new research it was possible to identify a workshop, which developed and produced the stipo a bambocci as a new type of writing-cabinets.
Weltkunst
Pummelchen macht gute Figur, Heft 5/ Mai 2008, S. 28-29
Period and localization
The earliest stipo a bambocci appeared around or shortly after 1560 in Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
/ the region of Liguria
Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...
. After having gained the interest of the nobility the demand for stipi a bambocci started to grow and the production of individual cabinets (in the sense of the iconography) began.
The end of the first decade of the 17th century marks also the end of the creation of the stipo a bambocci.
Surviving pieces
Today only very few original stipi a bambocci (<12 pieces) survive. They are in distinguished private collections and museums, e.g. in Milan in the Museo Poldi-Pezzoli, Bagatti-Valsecchi and in the Castello Sforzesco
The Castello Sforzesco (Italian for "Sforza's Castle") is a medieval fortification located in Milan, northern Italy. It was built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, on the remnants of a 14th-century fortification. Later reno ...
.
Image:Stipo_a_Bambocci_2.jpg, Stipo a bambocci, Private Collection, Switzerland
Image:Stipo_a_Bambocci_3.jpg, Detail of Stipo a bambocci 2
Image:Stipo_a_Bambocci_4.jpg, Stipo a bambocci in the Castello Sforzesco, Milan, Italy
Image:Stipo_a_Bambocci_1.jpg, Stipo a bambocci, Private Collection
References
External links
Castello SforzescoMuseo Bagatti-ValsecchiMuseo Poldi-PezzoliCantilever Racks
Cabinets (furniture)
Italian Renaissance