and with the co-operation of the reigning dukes and princes of the
different Italian states, artists were given encouragement and scope for
the employment of their talents. Michael Angelo, Titian, Raffaele Sanzio,
Andrea del Sarto, Correggio, and many other great artists were raising up
monuments of everlasting fame; Palladio was rebuilding the palaces of
Italy, which were then the wonder of the world; Benvenuto Cellini and
Lorenzo Ghiberti were designing those marvellous chef d'oeuvres in gold,
silver, and bronze which are now so rare; and a host of illustrious
artists were producing work which has made the sixteenth century famous
for all time.

[Illustration: Chair in Carved Walnut. Found in the house of Michael
Angelo.]

The circumstances of the Italian noble caused him to be very amenable to
Art influence. Living chiefly out of doors, his climate rendered him less
dependent on the comforts of small rooms, to which more northern people
were attached, and his ideas would naturally aspire to pomp and elegance,
rather than to home life and utility. Instead of the warm chimney corner
and the comfortable seat, he preferred furniture of a more palatial
character for the adornment of the lofty and spacious saloons of his
palace, and therefore we find the buffet elaborately carved, with a free
treatment of the classic antique which marks the time; it was frequently
"garnished" with the beautiful majolica of Urbino, of Pesaro, and of
Gubbio. The sarcophagus, or _cassone_, of oak, or more commonly of chesnut
or walnut, sometimes painted and gilded, sometimes carved with scrolls and
figures; the cabinet designed with architectural outline, and fitted up
inside with steps and pillars like a temple; chairs which are wonderful to
look upon as guardians of a stately doorway, but uninviting as seats;
tables inlaid, gilded, and carved, with slabs of marble or of Florentine