Obelisks in blackened wood and Portasanta marble

Blackened and gilded wood, Portasanta marble
Northern Italy
17th century
h. 54 cm (21.3 in.)

The decoration of these two obelisks, with ebonised and parcel-gilt wood inlaid with Portasanta marble panels, is characteristic of a specific kind of marble-inlaid furniture produced during the 17th century to adorn Milanese churches. Notable examples include the confessionals and the pulpit of the Church of Sant’Alessandro in Milan, executed around 1640.

Similar obelisks can also be observed on top of small cabinets, or stipi, produced in Venice at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. As these stipi were almost systematically placed against a wall, it is natural that these obelisks are decorated with marble on only three sides. The existence of this type of decoration in Milan and Venice (though Venetian examples generally display a less sober decor inspired by Oriental decorative arts, particularly Iznik patterns) confirms, in any case, the existence of a North Italian idiom to which this pair of obelisks belongs.