Bride's Chest of Anna Bosch and Fontarnau

This bride's chest had already appeared in the museum of the Cercle Literari de Vic, from where it went to the MEV's founding collection. It corresponds to a type from the late 15th century, with one of the front panels converted into a door with three drawers inside and a practicable upper drawer. On the inside of the door the bride and groom were portrayed (he with a mustache and a Turkish headdress, and she in Italianate hairstyle, according to the fashion of the time), something that is found in only five Catalan bridal boxes; that of the MEV, furthermore, is the highest quality specimen. The images of Saint Anne and Saint Onofrius painted inside the upper cover already allowed to deduce that these were the names of the bride and groom painted on the door. A search carried out in 2023 has made it possible to identify them and, in turn, date the box exactly. They are Anna Bosch i de Fontarnau, a 17-year-old maid, the daughter of a jurist from Vic, and Pere Onofre Sala, the 22-year-old lord of Montorroell (Sant Boi de Lluçanès). The coats of arms painted on the outside of the chest complete their identification. The box must have been made and painted around April 11, 1543, the date when the marriage chapters were signed. Both bride and groom belonged to two well-placed 16th-century families from Vic, wealthy enough to commission an object of such quality to the Gascó workshop, of which this box is, so far, the latest documented work.

Miquel Mirambell Abancó