Renaissance Marriages: During the Italian Renaissance, exquisitely decorated wooden chests known as cassoni were an important part of marriage rituals. Typically commissioned in pairs by the bride’s father as part of her dowry, the chests existed as an expression of the family’s wealth, and represented new alliances between elite families.

While some were painted with scenes that illustrated the nuances of courtship protocols, others were decorated with mythological, religious or allegorical stories that conveyed lessons of morality and virtue. Today, these surviving tempera paintings serve as windows into the past.