Siena (16th century), Chigi family wedding chest, carved and gilded walnut wood, 65 x 170 x 56 cm

Siena 16th century Chigi family wedding chest Carved and gilded walnut wood H 65 x W 170 x D 56 cm The Chigi Chest, datable to around the mid-16th century and probably of Sienese manufacture, could be a wedding chest related to the marriage between Mario Chigi (Siena 1511 – 1564) and Agnese Bulgarini, which took place in Siena in 1547. The presence of the Chigi della Rovere coat of arms, granted by Julius II to Agostino Chigi "the Magnificent" (Siena 1469 – Rome 1520) and his brother Sigismondo Chigi (Siena 1470 – 1525), is a prerogative of the main branch of the family; it passed by inheritance to the Roman branch of the family that descends from Sigismondo, since the son of the Magnificent, Lorenzo (1517 – Rome 1573), died without male heirs. We know that Lorenzo married Laura Capizucchi in 1536, then, on an unspecified date, Clemenza Sanguigni, also Roman (U. Frittelli, I Chigi, Siena 1922). From Mario, son of Sigismondo, descended Fabio Chigi, later Alexander VII, (1655 – 1667) and Prince Agostino Chigi (Siena 1634 - Rome 1705), the founder of the Roman branch of the family. Their residence was the Palazzo Chigi in Piazza Colonna, the current seat of the Presidency of the Council, where the wedding chest of the ancestor could also have been among the furnishings. The chest could coincide with the first of the two wedding chests that were in the dining room of the Palazzo Chigi in Rome on the occasion of the division of assets in 1917, before the sale of the property to the Italian State. (F. Petrucci, Palazzo Chigi as it was. The interiors in some archive photographs prior to 1918, in Palazzo Chigi, edited by C. Strinati, R. Vodret, Milan 2001), given the high amount of the estimate. I have not found relevant references in the Chigi inventories of the 17th century, where there were various chests but painted, except for the only chest present among the assets of Cardinal Flavio Chigi (1632 – 1693), which then passed to the cousin Prince Agostino, which must have had a certain importance being listed also in the index of the voluminous inventory. Francesco Petrucci Rome, August 5, 2010 Documents Inventory card. Flavio Chigi, Rome, Casino alle Quattro Fontane, 1692 (Archivio Chigi, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, n. 700, p. 164) A walnut chest approx. 3 palms high, and 6 palms wide, with handles, lock and gilded key Chigi Division 1917 / Forms of furniture assigned to Don Ludovico Chigi (Ariccia, Palazzo Chigi, archive) [7] (180) 435. Varnished chest / Corridor / £. 5.00 [7] (194) 476. Walnut wedding chest / Game room / £. 80.00 [8] (99) 734. Chest with lids / II Wardrobe of S. T. the Prince / £. 10.00 [8] (173) 970. Wedding chest / Dining room / £. 500.00 [8] (174) 971. Wedding chest / Dining room / £. 400.00