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The Philadelphia Museum of Art presents To Love, Honor, and Obey? Stories of Italian Renaissance Marriage Chests. This exhibit began with a mystery: In 1930, the museum acquired a painted Renaissance marriage chest, supposedly associated with the Medici family. However, questions soon arose—was it the real thing, or just painted to look like it? In recent years, the painted surface was too grimy to be displayed. But curators used X-rays to study the chest and examine its layers of paint. It was real!
Along with the restored chest, visitors can see before-and-after images, as well as the painted panels created in Tuscany in the 15th century. It’s rare for entire wedding chests, which held the bride’s dowry, to have survived; this exhibit features two intact chests. Call 215.684.7863 or go to www.philamuseum.org for more details.
