tabletop of Asymus Stedelin

Martin Schaffner's tabletop of Asymus Stedelin from 1533 is an unusual commission: a painted tabletop depicting the portrait of the owner surrounded by allegorical or decorative motifs appropriate to a piece of furniture meant to be used rather than merely admired. Such functional painted objects — chests, ceilings, tabletops — formed an important part of the Renaissance decorative arts and gave painters opportunities for intimate, inventive work outside the conventions of altarpiece and portrait painting. The Stedelin commission shows how the skilled South German workshop painter of the 1530s could adapt to a wide range of demands from wealthy patrons who wanted art integrated into their domestic environment. The object's survival is unusual: most painted furniture was destroyed through use or changing fashion.

The unusual tabletop format required Schaffner to adapt his compositional skills to a horizontal surface, with precise, detailed painting characteristic of the South German Renaissance workshop tradition.