A Rare and Highly Important Venetian laquered and gilt parade Shield, Italy, 16th Century

of convex circular, the wooden body lacquered and gilt with a deep red background and swirling split-palmettes and arabesques, the golden border with intertwining foliate scrolls, the reverse lined with leather and one remaining handle

In fair condition, some cracks along external edge of shield, pronounced sword cuts to front surface with rubbing and weathering extending to leather lining on back, one missing handle, small hook to front possibly for hanging, as viewed.
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This shield belongs to a small group of leather shields produced in Venice and lavishly decorated drawing on motifs from the Ottoman decorative repertoire. Two museums hold similar shields. The first is the Doge's Palace in Venice, and the second is the Museum Carolino-Augusteum in Salzburg. The Turkish artefacts, which provided the inspiration for these and other objects, came to Europe partly as a result of the Ottoman wars against the European powers, but also as a result of the close trading ties between Venice and Istanbul. The method used in Venice, known as cuoridoro, involved applying lacquer on silver-coated leather in order to produce a gold effect. Similar techniques were also used by Ottoman bow manufacturers. The present shield is almost identical to the Dresden shield (Staatlische Kunstammlungen, Dresden, inv. No.1) (published in H. Schuckelt, The Turkish Chamber: Oriental Splendour in the Dresden Armoury, Sataatlische Kunstammlungen, Dresden, 2010, p.129), which formed part of a group of shields used by the bodyguard of Prince-Bishop Wolf Dietrich von Reitenau of Salzburg. Another comparable Venetian shield, datable to 1550, is found in the Metropolitan Museum (acc. no. 29.158.586).

For an interesting discussion comparing Venetian sixteenth-century lacquer-work to Ottoman leather bindings of the same period, see Ernst J. Grube; 'Venetian Lacquer and Bookbindings of the 16th Century' in S. Carboni, ed., Venice and the Islamic World: 828-1979, New York-Paris, 2007, pp.231-243. It is important to take into account Grube's technical description of such shields: "A primary feature of Venetian lacquer-painted objects must be noted immediately: they are not produced using true lacquer but instead are decorated with highly varnished painting on leather or over a chalk or gypsum base on wood, just as are the so-called lacquer-painting objects of the Muslim world" (ibid., p.231). For a contemporary discussion on the Venetian technique of varnishing and gilding see Leonardo Fioravanti's Compendio de Secreti Nationali, published in Venice in 1562 and Thomasso Garzoni's La Piazza Universale di Tutte le Professioni del Mondo also published in Venice in 1589 (ibid, p.231-251).   

A closely-related shield with gilded scrolling half-palmettes against a deep red background, is now in the Armeria di Palazzo Ducale, Venice (illustrated in: ibid., p.234, cat.135).