It is necessary to establish that the desk mentioned has been named here for the first time as the, "Desk of Perseus and Atlas with the golden tree orchard", as these are the figures that are located in the ovule that occupies the center of the top of this piece of furniture, and play a dominant role compared to the rest of the mythological scenes that appear on the desk. All the mythological fables, twelve on the outside, plus other individual figures in the lower set of drawers, are based on woodcuts that illustrate at least two editions from the 16th century of the Metamorphosis, a work by the poet Publio Ovidio Nason, who was born in Sulmona. Also attributed here for the first time is the authorship of the of the furniture item to the artist Manuel de la Cerda, and the formal connections of this work with the desk of the same artist that is conserved in the Hispanic Society of New York are also important, as both works are very similar in structure and technique.
The desk of the Hispanic Society is signed. It should be mentioned that the one in the Amparo Museum is a first-rate lacquer work, most certainly entrusted by a scholarly character, and a product of the famous workshop of De la Cerda in Patzcuaro, Michoacan. The artist was an indigenous nobleman (head chief) of the lakeside community that had amassed a great fortune, even outside the vice-royal sphere. The traveler Friar Francisco Ajofrin gives an of its fame and praises the fine works in the decoration of trays for the vice-royal court that were created in the workshop.
The desk may be dated to the second half of the 18th century, and is without a doubt a lacquer work with a surprising iconography. The piece of furniture consists of three very well defined stand-out elements. The strange typology adopted is a creation of the workshop itself, but in principle it is a desk. In the lower part there is a leg with a rich undulating skirting that is finished by clawed, balled feet that are set on octagonal sections to make the piece higher. An interesting point is that the entire desk was sketched in gold with blue as the dominant color, although on the inside a wide range of colors was used. A type of wastepaper basket with doors that hide a set of drawers is attached to the leg. The second body is in the strictest sense the desk with a hinged lid, crowned by a high finish or trim that includes undulating baroque molds, as if it were a dust cover (third body).
There are also drawers in the desk. Among the figures represented in the lower set of drawers are Diana and Acteon with the dogs, Narciso in the pond, the fighting wolf Peleo, and the centaur Quiron, in addition to other animals including an elephant and a lady galloping on her horse. There is a weeping willow in the center drawer. In the desk's set of drawers, hidden by the hinged lid, there are floral representations of animals and architectural structures. Lastly, the following scenes can be seen from the outside: the rapture of Ganimedes; Teseo and Aquelao; Co, Biblis and Cauno; Cimaras and Mira; Venus before the dead Adonis, among others. As regards the wood, cirino (linden) is dominant and there is a silver keyhole.
It is necessary to establish that the desk mentioned has been named here for the first time as the, "Desk of Perseus and Atlas with the golden tree orchard", as these are the figures that are located in the ovule that occupies the center of the top of this piece of furniture, and play a dominant role compared to the rest of the mythological scenes that appear on the desk. All the mythological fables, twelve on the outside, plus other individual figures in the lower set of drawers, are based on woodcuts that illustrate at least two editions from the 16th century of the Metamorphosis, a work by the poet Publio Ovidio Nason, who was born in Sulmona. Also attributed here for the first time is the authorship of the of the furniture item to the artist Manuel de la Cerda, and the formal connections of this work with the desk of the same artist that is conserved in the Hispanic Society of New York are also important, as both works are very similar in structure and technique.
