Panel

Artist Giovanni Battista Gatti (Italian, 1816 - 1889)

Dateca. 1865

MediumEbony, ebonized walnut, ivory, and glass

DimensionsOverall: 20 1/2 × 27 1/2 × 2 3/4 inches (52.07 × 69.85 × 6.99 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: the Caroline N. Berkowitz Fund and exchange of various Foundation properties

Object number2003.14

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

Architecture, Design and Decorative Arts

Terms

DescriptionRectangular ebony panel with two large ebonized walnut oval frames within which are glass cameo portraits of William and Elizabeth Gilstrap, surrounded by intricate inlaid ivory grotesques of monsters and foliage. Beneath the portraits are the Gilstrap arms. Between the two framed ovals is a female figure holding wreathes over the two portraits. At the corners of the panel are four lobes with ivory portraits of Italian Renaissance artists: Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo, and Perugino. The border between these lobes is decorated with inlaid ivory grotesques and foliage as well as cameo portrait busts of ancient philosophers and emperors: Galba, Socrates, Tiberius, Plato, and Vespasian.Gallery Label

Gallery Label

Giovanni Battista Gatti

Italian, 1816–1889

Panel, about 1865

Ebony, ebonized walnut, ivory, and glass

Giovanni Battista Gatti specialized in decorative objects made of ebony with elaborate inlaid ivory ornament. The intricate technique and the motifs of grotesques, foliage, and animals drew from Italian and German Renaissance sources. In this panel, Gatti included ivory portraits of the Italian Renaissance artists Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Perugino. He also incorporated portraits of ancient philosophers and emperors. Gatti (Italian for “cats”) often included his namesake in his works. Can you find a feline face near the center of the panel?

Purchase: the Caroline N. Berkowitz Fund and exchange of various Foundation properties, 2003.14

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