Italian Renaissance interior design

Italy, in particular Florence and Tuscany, was the founding nation of the Renaissance artistic, cultural and social movement which swept across Europe and revolutionized European thought and philosophy.

Cities such as Florence, and later Rome, Venice, Vicenza, Padua, Verona, Pienza, Naples, Turin, Milan and Siena began to be influenced by these new styles, often constructing elegant piazzas, beautiful palaces and re-designing some of the cluttered urban arrangements of the Middle Ages.

[1] Large cassoni (singular cassone) or marriage chests,[1] were the most desired and common features of homes, and despite the fact that they were expensive, were bought by nearly all the social classes.

[1] Furniture was mainly made out of wood, often walnut or willow, and was usually rich in style, with many inlays of ivory, gold, stone, marble or other precious materials, often decorated with marquetry.

Much furniture was also relatively grotesque (a French variation of the Italian word grottesco), often creating sculpted odd-looking gargoyles and monsters to make these items seem more amusing.