Today’s word is: rose window. Let’s find out together its use and the most famous places where it was used.

What is the rose window?

The rose window is a decorative element usually in the shape of a circle. The composition is made with symmetrical floral elements around a center or system of radial axes. The flowers are stylized in various ways.

Spread of the rose window

The rose window was already used in Roman times as a decoration of the facades of the basilicas (for example the radial chapels of Santo Stefano Rotondo, the side nave of the Basilica of Saints John and Paul and in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme). We can also find this motif in Gothic architecture where it reached wide proportions. The most striking example is Notre Dame with a diameter of almost 10 meters.

This decorative element was taken up during the Renaissance to decorate furniture panels, coffered vaults and portals. In the first case the inlay technique is used while for the drawers the carving is used. We have already analyzed the two different techniques, do you remember their characteristics?

The most famous Renaissance rose windows are:

• Pazzi Chapel by Brunelleschi
• Santa Maria Maggiore to Rome
• The district of Eleonora and the Sala degli Otto of Palazzo Vecchio in Florence
• San Marco School in Venice

Example

The rose window is an element that you certainly do not struggle to imagine in your mind; It does not go unnoticed on the facades of the largest Italian and European basilicas.

Certainly on furniture it is more difficult to grasp this detail, given their small size. In our warehouse you can find many pieces carved with this element. Today we chose a neoclassical wall table.

The table is supported by fluted truncated-pyramidal legs with carved shelves, drainers and frames with successive leaves. The band has a lion protoma and rosettes carved with oak leaves.

If you want to discover all the other antique furnishings and furnishing accessories decorated with the rose window, you just have to come and visit us in our shops and in our warehouse in Cambiago.