German school, early 16th century.

German school, early sixteenth century.
Double chair in walnut wood and marquetry.
It has a crack in the left seat.
Measurements: 221 x 146 x 60 cm.

Double chair in walnut wood, with carving and marquetry. It belongs to the Germanic Gothic. It was probably destined to an abbey, according to the carved decoration. With a symmetrical structure, it is organized in three levels. It rises on six small feet, and the seats have a carved front with "napkin" folds housed in panels. The lateral decoration repeats the same motif. At the base of the back, at the height of the solid armrests, there is an elaborate marquetry work with inlaid "tarsia certosina" forming geometric motifs. The upper part of the backrest has two panels, in which scroll motifs alternate with insignia. Three pinnacles crown the piece of furniture. The center of the back is sculpted with two niches depicting Saint Anthony the Great and the Virgin. This bas-relief takes up the usual attributes of Saint Anthony the Great: the tau or crozier that he holds in his left hand, also embroidered on his abbot's tunic, the bell in his right hand (an attribute of the hermits, used to repel demons) and the piglet (referring to an episode in his life). Likewise, the flames associate the saint with ergot poisoning (St. Anthony's fire). The two olive branches symbolize peace. As for the Virgin, she is crowned by angels and holds the Child Jesus. It is a representation of the Virgin of the Apocalypse. It is an iconography that took off at the beginning of the 16th century. Her body appears wrapped in a long tunic that falls to her feet, with brocades on the neck. Mary, with a benevolent face, is crowned by two angels. The Virgin rests on a lunar cross. The moon symbolizes the border between the incorruptible and the corruptible world, which in ancient tradition, used to be under the moon. Saint Anthony contemplates the Woman of the Apocalypse, establishing a dialogue between both characters. In style and iconography, we are before a remarkable work of the dawn of the 16th century, still rooted in Gothic models in the way of resolving the figures, but already showing clear Renaissance elements.