J. Paul Getty Museum Acquires 17th Century Roman Cabinet With Church Facade

ARTDAILY
The Borghese- Windsor Cabinet, Rome, about 1620. Cabinet: 178 cm high (including statuette) x 126 cm wide x 54 cm deep, Stand: 84 cm high x 153.5 cm wide x 65.5 cm deep. Ebony; statuettes in gilded bronze and silver; hard stones include lapis lazuli, jaspers, agates, carnelians, amethyst; ebony and ivory (removed) for the central niche. Photo Courtesy of Sotheby’s Paris.
CALIFORNIA - The J. Paul Getty Museum announced today the acquisition at auction of the Borghese-Windsor cabinet, a magnificent work of furniture, sculpture and stone inlay (pietre dure) made in Rome about 1620 for Pope Paul V and later acquired by King George IV of England. “The Borghese-Windsor cabinet is one of the finest examples of Italian pietre dure cabinets known,” said Timothy Potts, director of the J. Paul Getty Museum. The ornate cabinet is one of the most significant pietre dure pieces of furniture produced in Rome in the early 17th century. At about six feet tall, the cabinet is architectural in appearance, evoking a church façade. [link]