A NORTH ITALIAN CARVED GILTWOOD MIRROR

This type of boldly carved scrolled acanthus mirror was produced in various centres in Italy including Lombardy, Veneto and Rome in the late 17th and the first half of the 18th Century. Carvers were inspired by engravings such as those executed by the ornemantiste Filippo Passarini (1638-1698) in 'Nuove invenzioni d'ornamenti d'architettura e d'intagli diversi', published in Rome in 1698 (see E. Colle, Il Mobile Barocco in Italia, Milano, 2000, p.110, pl.24). This mirror is reminiscent of the work executed by the workshop of the Fantoni family in Rovetta (near Bergamo). One of the leading names in the art of 'Intaglio', Andrea Fantoni (1659-1734) came from a dynasty of carvers renowned for their celebrated work in churches around Bergamo as early as the mid-15th Century. With his brothers Donato and Gian Battista, Andrea led the workshop and florished in the production of such sought-after mirrors. Designs and drawings relating to this type of mirror are in the Fondazione Fantoni in Rovetta. (op. cit. p.386, pl.96, and C.Alberici, Il Mobile Lombardo, Milano, 1969, pp.96-97).