Pair of armchairs; Attributed to Valentino Besarel, c. 1880.

Pair of armchairs; attributed to VALENTINO (Astragal, Italy,1829-, Venice, 1902); Venice, c. 1880.
Walnut and partially gilt embossed leather.
They have tow on the inside.
The original leather has been preserved and one of the moldings of the front pillar is missing.
Measurements: 78 x 57 x 57 cm (x2).
Pair of armchairs made of molded and carved walnut wood. Both have the same design of curved openwork backrest decorated with fantastic animals leaning on each other. The upper part of the backrest is decorated in high relief with a mask. The legs are baluster-shaped and have vegetal detailing on the knees.
The style of this pair of chairs is very reminiscent of works by Valentino Besarel in fact in the book "Valentino Panciera Besarel (1829-1902) Storia e arte di una bottega d'intaglio in Veneto" you can see a very similar fireplace front made in marble. "Besarel" is a nickname of popular origin used to distinguish the artist's family from other homonymous lineages, but it has come to dominate even the surname, to the point that even in the artistic world he is known simply as "Valentino Besarel". The last representative of the "Besarel" Panciera was Valentino's daughter Caterina, who died in 1947. The Besarel family had been engaged in wood carving for generations: his great-grandfather Valentino (1747-1811), a pupil of Giampaolo Gamba "Zampòl" and disciple of the master Andrea Brustolon, his grandfather Giovanni (1778-1842) and also his father Giovanni Battista (1801-1873) had been carvers; the latter had achieved some local fame by leaving works in several churches in the Zoldo area. Valentino received his first training in his father's workshop, to which he added, in the early 1840s to the school of the Belluno draughtsman Antonio. The turning point came when he met Giuseppe Segusini, who saw him work while, following his father, he decorated the archdeaconry church of Agordo. Thanks to the architect from Feltre, he was able to attend the Accademia di Venezia from 1853 to 1855, although he was unable to complete his studies. His first independent works, also commissioned by Segusini, were Saints Peter and Paul for the high altar of the parish church of Tiser and the Four Evangelists for the cathedral of Belluno (1855-1856). Besarel worked for a long time in his native land, until in the sixties he moved to Venice, where he received great honors and European fame, to the point of becoming an official supplier to the main monarchies of the continent. Not even the disability he suffered with the loss of four fingers could interrupt Valentino's activity.