Baroque mirror in gilded wood - Italy, Florence1656

This gilded wooden frame is typical of the Florentine production of the XVIIth century. It is also dated in black ink on the upper edge of its reverse "1656". At that time, the frame was an essential stylistic element of the interiors and had to harmonize with all the furniture in a room. Apart from its decorative function, the frame served as a symbolic demarcation between the room in which it was located and the work of art it framed.
This symbolic dimension was accentuated by the collectors of fêtes galantes who, from the 18th century onwards, saw their frames as windows opening onto the pictorial universe. Thus, they allowed to symbolically penetrate this idyllic world.
Carved in a gilded wood with gold leaf, this frame reveals its plate. It is part of the production of decorative objects of baroque style with its sinuous forms composed of volutes that bring movement and dynamism to the whole.