Antique Shield Shaped Venetian Mirror 19th Century 69x37cm

A superbly carved and highly decorative fine quality Italian Florentine giltwood  mirror, mid 19th Century in date. This rectangular mirror consists of a superbly carved giltwood fr...

This is a superb pair of antique Italian Florentine giltwood mirrors, circa 1870 in date. The oval mirrors plates are set within a Rococo boldly-carved scrolling acanthus frame, and they retain the original gilding. Florentine style refers to the art and architecture coming out of Florence, Italy during the Renaissance period. Florentine furniture is characterized by the heavy use of gold gilding on wood and very elaborate hand carved decoration. This impressive pair is certain to make a charming addition to that one special room in your home. Condition: In excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned and waxed in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation. Dimensions in cm: height 102 x width 63 x depth 4 Dimensions in inches: height 3 foot, 4 inches x width 2 feet, 1 inch x depth 2 inches Rococo Although Rococo is usually thought of as developing first in the decorative arts and interior design, its origins lie in the late Baroque architectural work of Borromini (1599–1667) mostly in Rome and Guarini (1624–1683) mostly in Northern Italy but also in Vienna, Prague, Lisbon, and Paris. Italian architects of the late Baroque/early Rococo were wooed to Catholic (Southern) Germany, Bohemia and Austria by local princes, bishops and prince-bishops. Inspired by their example, regional families of Central European builders went further, creating churches and palaces that took the local German Baroque style to the greatest heights of Rococo elaboration and sensation. An exotic but in some ways more formal type of Rococo appeared in France where Louis XIV's succession brought a change in the court artists and general artistic fashion. By the end of the king's long reign, rich Baroque designs were giving way to lighter elements with more curves and natural patterns. These elements are obvious in the architectural designs of Nicolas Pineau. During the Régence, court life moved away from Versailles...