Getty Museum

Display Cabinet (toonkast)

Date

early 17th century

Medium

Walnut and oak veneered with ebony, tortoise shell, coconut?, and ebonized wood

Culture

Flemish (probably Antwerp)

Department

Decorative Arts

Institution

Getty Museum

This cabinet, used to store and proudly display precious possessions, inventively combines architectural forms with elegantly carved figural and ornamental motifs. The two main doors are decorated with allegorical figures of two of the three Christian theological Virtues: Faith and Hope, holding their respective attributes of a cross and an anchor. The third Virtue, Charity, appears on the central drawer, suckling two children. Four female figures representing the seasons of the year support the upper register of the cabinet. Behind them, five small busts with male and female heads decorate the tops of pillars, perhaps symbolizing the five senses. Depicting the Virtues along with these allegorical figures probably served as a reminder that pleasure must not take precedence over Christian principles.

The authoritative record is held by Getty Museum. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.