Pair of Italian Renaissance Revival Armchairs, Florentine workshop, mid-19th century

These sculptural chairs reinterpret the iconic Savonarola and Dante forms of Renaissance Italy, with boldly curved arms, semi-circular seats, and intricate inlay—likely bone or ivory—framing a central medallion. Crafted in the historicist spirit of the Risorgimento, they evoke the grandeur of 15th-century Florentine design while serving 19th-century tastes for theatrical interiors and artisanal craftsmanship.

Comparable examples are held at the Museo Nazionale del Bargello and the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, as well as the Musée Fabre in Montpellier, where similar revivalist chairs by Luigi Frullini and Giuseppe Gagliardi showcase the same fusion of sculptural form and decorative virtuosity.         

Carved and inlaid walnut,

86 × 61 × 58 cm