Valentino Panciera (1829 - 1902) A CENTRAL FIGURAL TABLE

Second half of 19th century
walnut
82 x 83 x 83 cm (h x w x d)

The richly decorated figural central table is the work of the renowned Venetian furniture maker Valentino Panciero, called Besarél, who followed in the tradition of the famous furniture sculptor Andrea Brustolone. Besarél, who trained at the Venetian Academy between the early 1850s and 1855, initially became involved in the Venetian art market, only to become internationally known. The quality of execution with which the artist, and Brustolon before him, was able to model suggestive sculptures in both the secular ornament and ecclesiastical realms put him at the head of a thriving workshop in San Barnabas. Symptomatic of his debt to Brustolon is the Monument of Andrea Brustolon for the parish of Dont di Zoldo (Belluno), executed in 1878; followed by the Allegory of Victor Emmanuel II (now in the Burgundy Museum in Vercelli). Besarel's numerous commissions enabled him, in his advanced years, to purchase the Palazzo Contarini Michiel as his residence and a suggestive backdrop exhibiting his sculptural work absorbed in historicizing decorative arts and furniture. Under the octagon-shaped panel are two putti, one of them holding a fish, around with floral motifs and with shells, always with a stylized mascot head in the corners, symbolizing the anthropomorphization of nature. Excellent preserved condition.