ixteenth century, metal workers reached a point of excellence which has
never been surpassed, and those marvels of mountings in steel, iron and
brass were produced in Italy and Germany, which are far more important as
works of art, than the plain and unpretending productions of the coffer
maker, which are their _raison d'etre._ The woodcut on p. 53 represents a
very good example of a "Coffre-fort" in the South Kensington Collection.
The decoration is bitten in with acids so as to present the appearance of
its being damascened, and the complicated lock, shewn on the inside of the
lid, is characteristic of these safeguards for valuable documents at a
time when the modern burglar-proof safe had not been thought of.

The illustration on the following page is from an example in the same
museum, shewing a different decoration, the oval plaques of figures and
coats of arms being of carved ivory let into the surface of the coffer.
This is an early specimen, and belongs as much to the last chapter as to
the present.

"Pietra-dura" as an ornament was first introduced in Italy during the
sixteenth century, and became a fashion. This was an inlay of
highly-polished rare marbles, agates, hard pebbles, lapis lazuli, and
other stones; ivory was also carved and applied as a bas relief, as well
as inlaid in arabesques of the most elaborate designs; tortoiseshell,
brass, mother of pearl, and other enrichments were introduced in the
decoration of cabinets and of caskets; silver plaques embossed and
engraved were pressed into the service as the native princes of Florence,
Urbino, Ferrara, and other independent cities vied with Rome, Venice, and
Naples in sumptuousness of ornament, and lavishness of expense, until the
inevitable period of decline supervened in which exaggeration of ornament
and prodigality of decoration gave the eye no repose.

Edmond Bonnaffe, contrasting the latter period of Italian Renaissance with
that of sixteenth century French woodwork, has pithily remarked: "_Chez
cux, l'art du bois consiste a le dissimuler, chez nous a le faire
valoir._"

[Illustration: Italian Coffer with Medallions of Ivory. 15th Century.
(_South Kensington Museum._)]

In Ruskin's "Stones of Venice," the author alludes to this
over-ornamentation of the latter Renaissance in severe terms. After
describing the progress of art in Venice from Byzantine to Gothic, and
from Gothic to Renaissance he subdivides the latter period into three
classes:-