Ovidian Secrets: An Unknown 17th-Century Cabinet in Santiago de Cuba and the Illustration of the Metamorphoses

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present an unknown Baroque cabinet from the collection of the Casa de Velazquez Museum in the city of Santiago de Cuba, probably made in Antwerp in the 17th century, with a figurative inlaid decoration inspired by contemporary illustrations of the Metamorphoses. Given the scarcity of documentation on this particular piece, and on this type of decorated furniture in general, this article aims to decipher the decorative program and its possible meaning. Methodologically, the research follows an iconographic and philological approach, carrying out a search for models and parallels in order, on the one hand, to determine the source of the figurative scenes that decorate the cabinet and, on the other hand, to hypothesize on the interpretation and function of the complex but irregular decoration.