This cabinet with its 17 compartments (some hidden) is a marvel of woodcarving and a celebration of intricacy. Architectural elements and ornamental detailing frame narrative compositions, organized into a lattice of ordered compartments. Forty-eight scenes relate the Old Testament story of David, "prophet and king," as a model of virtue. The vigor of these compositions points to their derivation from woodcut designs by a master such as Joost Amman (1539-1591), but the source is unidentified. The significance of each scene is distilled by a Latin motto, for example the death of David (inside of the right-hand door), by PIETATIS DEFUNCTIO (a pious death).
The artist Peter Opel of Regensburg proudly inscribed his name on the door to the central compartment and, on the back, carved his self-portrait, dressed as a gentleman but holding a chisel. The chest was designed to hold small treasures and antiquities.
<bdi><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18508590" class="extiw" title="d:Q18508590"><span title="German printmaker, active 1580-1595">Peter Opel</span></a>
</bdi>
between circa 1580 and circa 1590 <div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1550-00-00T00:00:00Z/7,P1319,+1580-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,+1590-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902</div> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Renaissance" class="extiw" title="w:en:Renaissance"><span title="cultural movement that spanned the period roughly from the 14th to the 17th century">Renaissance</span></a><div style="display: none;">era QS:P2348,Q4692</div>)
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