The bookcase retains its original gilding scheme of oil gilt on top of a this gesso layer sealed with thick animal size, an oil size containing yellow ochre and lead white, and covered by a 'fixing' coat of animal size. The cabinet is also intended to evoke lyric poetry and the triumph of the water-born Venus, to whom the rose is sacred. It is executed in rose-tinted padouk (or 'rosewood'), with golden enrichments.
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