A rare and fascinating wooden tabernacle from the Venetian area, probably Venice, datable to the very early years of the 19th century. It is characterized by a trapezoidal urn structure, raised on four elegant sculpted and gilded feline legs, attributable to lion's paws.
The surface is finished with a light lacquer and rich gold leaf gilding, of excellent quality and still clearly legible, with carved friezes and frames that frame sage green painted panels, embellished with refined gilded foliage motifs, executed with an expert hand and neoclassical taste.
The front is characterized by the original circular door, decorated with a radiant eye inscribed in a mandorla, an iconography of strong symbolic impact attributable to the representation of the Divinity or the Eye of Providence. The plastic rendering of the eyelids and eyebrow arch is a rare and uncommon detail in contemporary tabernacles, giving the work a particularly suggestive aura.
On the sides there are gilded lion heads sculpted in full relief, which reinforce the solemn and decorative character of the whole.
The top retains a gilded frieze currently placed in a central position; the visible imprints indicate that this element was probably part of a larger decorative apparatus, subsequently readapted. Also noteworthy is the lack of the original upper lid.
Overall, an object of great decorative and symbolic charm, rare in type and executive quality, ideal both for collectors of sacred furnishings and as a furnishing element of strong scenographic presence.
