The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Bowl with Saint Nicholas of Tolentino

Art Object

The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet

Discover the hidden features and intricate interior of this cabinet.

One of the finest achievements of European furniture making, this cabinet is the most important product from Abraham (1711–1793) and David Roentgen's (1743–1807) workshop. A writing cabinet crowned with a chiming clock, it features finely designed marquetry panels and elaborate mechanisms that allow for doors and drawers to be opened automatically at the touch of a button. Owned by King Frederick William II, the Berlin cabinet is uniquely remarkable for its ornate decoration, mechanical complexity, and sheer size.

This cabinet, from Kunstgewerbemuseum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, is featured in the exhibition Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens (on view October 30, 2012–January 27, 2013).

Footage courtesy of VideoART GmbH and Kunstgewerbemuseum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.

David Roentgen: Long-Case Clock
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The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet
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Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
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Bowl with Saint Nicholas of Tolentino

Date:: 1524
Culture:: Italian, Gubbio
Medium:: Maiolica (tin-enameled earthenware), lustered
Dimensions:: H. 7 in. (17.8 cm), Diam. 13-1/2 in. (34.3 cm)
Classification:: Ceramics
Credit Line:: Gift of V. Everit Macy, in memory of his wife, Edith Carpenter Macy, 1927
Accession Number:: 27.97.22

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 503

Description

Figures in the small roundels on the inner wall are Saint Ubaldus (?) and Archangel Raphael with Tobias; Saints Peter and Paul are on the outer wall.
Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Inscription: On inner wall below rim, on ribbands and labels, "SPQR", "X M [AS?] deo" (?Christ my God, see catalogue cards for exact writing), "P. fede vivo" (through faith I live), "1524". On rim "X ma Xdio" (Christ my God) (see catalogue cards for exact writing)
Provenance

V. Everit Macy (until 1927; to MMA)
See also
What
Ceramics (29,320)

Pottery (12,856)

Earthenware (6,696)

Bowls (5,014)

Maiolica (565)
Where
Europe (148,586)

Italy (20,983)

Umbrian (189)

Perugia (135)

Gubbio (56)
When
A.D. 1400-1600 (20,545)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Florence and Central Italy, 1400–1600 A.D.