Name of Object:

Painted chest

Location:

Athens, Greece

Holding Institution:

Benaki Museum

 About Benaki Museum, Athens

Date of Object:

Late 18th century

Inventory Number:

37951

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Painted wood

Dimensions:

45 cm

Description:

The main façade of the chest is adorned with a composition of flowers, branches and fruits in curvilinear compartments, while the corners depict female figures flanked by columns. The interior of the lid shows a landscape with five male figures: a man with a European garment sitting on the ground observing another figure dressed in European clothes, two figures on horseback with Ottoman costumes and a European traveller. The panels in the style of rocailles that adorn both the main and the side views of the chest, the compositions of fruit and flowers and the soft colours refer to the prevailing influence of the rococo style that is dominant in the frescos of the mansions of Lesvos the late 18th century. Both the structure of the mansions and the decorative repertoire follow Ottoman aesthetic as these were by influenced by European art but blending baroque, rococo and neoclassical styles.

Type of Object

Furniture

Citation of this web page:

Xenia Politou "Painted chest" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;gr;9;en

Prepared by: Xenia Politou

MWNF Working Number: GR 009