The Borghese-Windsor cabinet arrives at the J. Paul Getty Museum After a Long and Fascinating Journey

Over centuries the arrival of decorative objects of importance was marked by joyful celebrations at the many courts of Europe, where these art pieces were seen as displays of wealth, taste, achievement and national pride.

Thousands of visitors to the J. Paul Getty Museum of Art in Los Angeles will experience a similar feeling of jubilation with the arrival of a spectacular Roman Pietra Dura Cabinet dating back to circa 1620. The Getty acquired the Borghese-Windsor cabinet at an auction in Paris on September 20, 2016, and this exceptional tour de force inlaid cabinet is an extraordinary addition to a select group of Italian decorative pieces, which are part of the Getty’s collection. The Sotheby’s auction catalogue rightly refers to this piece as “ An Exceptional Italian Gilt-Bronze and Silver, Ebony mounted Pietra Dura cabinet. Rome, circa 1620. From Pope Paul V Borghese and then King George IV in 1827”.