Inlaid Secretaire desk. Angelo Mingozzi, Faenza, 1861-1866

Angelo Mingozzi was the son of Giuseppe, founder in 1815 of the Faenza cabinet-making workshop of the same name and, like his father, specialised in marquetry, studying this practice in Florentine workshops. In particular, he focused himself in inlays with coloured woods, ivory and mother-of-pearl, presumably also being involved in the design of the furniture and not only in its material execution.

Interesting is the iconographic programme proposed on the furniture under examination, which, also thanks to the indication of the date of production (1861-1866), suggests that the secrètaire may have been made to celebrate the Unification of Italy.
In the centre of the central door is in fact depicted Italy turreted and starry, the tricolour in her hand, while on the sides are a model of St. Peter and a volcano. All around a thick leafy frame at the corners of which are allegories of the arts, indicating precisely Italy’s excellence in this field; from top left clockwise: Music, Sculpture, Painting, Architecture.

On the lower sash, on the other hand, two semi-reclining and embracing female figures are depicted, one holding a sword and the other a pair of scales, attributes of Strength and Justice respectively. These are often included directly in the iconography of turreted Italy and, again, should be read as virtues of which the nation is the bearer and guarantor.

On the other hand, the two male figures depicted on the curved wings of the scarab are not allegorical depictions but representations of illustrious men, proposed to celebrate Italy’s supremacy in the fields of art and literature. The one on the right is immediately recognisable as Dante Alighieri, author of the Divine Comedy and promoter of the vernacular language also in the cultural sphere; the identity of the character on the left is more difficult to unravel. It is easy to guess his profession as a painter, thanks to the paintbrush and palette soiled with colours with which he is portrayed, and it would seem that he can be identified, with a good margin of certainty, as Giotto. The model to which he refers would seem to be the sculpture of the artist placed in 1845 in the loggia of the Uffizi, part of an ambitious project to pay homage to the ‘Great Tuscans’; in particular, the clothing, with a short robe and a long cloak, is reproduced in a precise manner.

In the cymatium, flanked by a pair of cherubs, is an inlaid coat-of-arms with a rampant lion crowned in gold, holding a sword and the head of Anjou with three golden fleurs-de-lis; it is stamped with a plumed helmet with crest, set within a golden crown. This is the coat of arms of Faenza, the birthplace of the maker of the piece of furniture, as declared by him in the inscription.

Angelo Mingozzi was the son of Giuseppe, founder in 1815 of the Faenza cabinet-making workshop of the same name and, like his father, specialised in marquetry, studying this practice in Florentine workshops. In particular, he focused himself in inlays with coloured woods, ivory and mother-of-pearl, presumably also being involved in the design of the furniture and not only in its material execution.

Interesting is the iconographic programme proposed on the furniture under examination, which, also thanks to the indication of the date of production (1861-1866), suggests that the secrètaire may have been made to celebrate the Unification of Italy.
In the centre of the central door is in fact depicted Italy turreted and starry, the tricolour in her hand, while on the sides are a model of St. Peter and a volcano. All around a thick leafy frame at the corners of which are allegories of the arts, indicating precisely Italy’s excellence in this field; from top left clockwise: Music, Sculpture, Painting, Architecture.

On the lower sash, on the other hand, two semi-reclining and embracing female figures are depicted, one holding a sword and the other a pair of scales, attributes of Strength and Justice respectively. These are often included directly in the iconography of turreted Italy and, again, should be read as virtues of which the nation is the bearer and guarantor.

On the other hand, the two male figures depicted on the curved wings of the scarab are not allegorical depictions but representations of illustrious men, proposed to celebrate Italy’s supremacy in the fields of art and literature. The one on the right is immediately recognisable as Dante Alighieri, author of the Divine Comedy and promoter of the vernacular language also in the cultural sphere; the identity of the character on the left is more difficult to unravel. It is easy to guess his profession as a painter, thanks to the paintbrush and palette soiled with colours with which he is portrayed, and it would seem that he can be identified, with a good margin of certainty, as Giotto. The model to which he refers would seem to be the sculpture of the artist placed in 1845 in the loggia of the Uffizi, part of an ambitious project to pay homage to the ‘Great Tuscans’; in particular, the clothing, with a short robe and a long cloak, is reproduced in a precise manner.

In the cymatium, flanked by a pair of cherubs, is an inlaid coat-of-arms with a rampant lion crowned in gold, holding a sword and the head of Anjou with three golden fleurs-de-lis; it is stamped with a plumed helmet with crest, set within a golden crown. This is the coat of arms of Faenza, the birthplace of the maker of the piece of furniture, as declared by him in the inscription.

.