Imagination and image in renaissance wooden inlays

Abstract

It is in the vivid imagination of the authors of Renaissance wooden inlays that lies the marvelous attraction for these works of art. Imagination that comes and develops in the mental model of both draftsman and carvers. The image that is the product of this intellectual operation should not be considered only as the final and final result of this activity, but is configured as the key to open the door of another world suspended between reality and illusion, a world that comes to life in imagination of the one who looks at the work. To favour this illusion, the architects of the inlays resort to the principal tool used to create this illusion: perspective. Many of the leading artists who have characterized the Renaissance have lent their work in the conception of inlays. The perspectives of urban scenes present in many tablets have been the subject of various interpretations: from simple perspective exercises to ideas for theatrical sets but perhaps the most effective explanation is to recognize in these inlays the desire to “build” urban views in a dreamer vision of a imaginary world. To apply these considerations, some inlays in the choir of the Basilica of San Domenico in Bologna were analysed.