Luigi Valadier (1726–1785)
Table with Dodecagonal Porphyry Top (one of two), 1773
Giallo antico, portasanta, bianco e nero antico, gilt wood, gilt bronze, and porphyry
36 5/8 × 55 1/8 × 34 5/8 in. (93 × 140 × 88 cm)
Galleria Borghese, Rome
Mauro Magliani
Two tables of the same design were made by Valadier for Palazzo Borghese in Rome and were subsequently moved to the family’s villa (only one is displayed in the exhibition). The tables have sumptuous porphyry tops and bases in colored marbles. Each base is decorated with four extraordinary golden masks representing the Seasons. The tables were originally surmounted by porphyry and gilt-bronze candelabra (now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art).