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Pair of chests, attributed to Antonio Maffei

Listen to a family-friendly commentary about an object in the J. Paul Getty Museum's collection. Part of the Animals in Art tour at the Getty Center. Created by Getty Museum.

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Video transcript

(playful music) - [Voiceover] Ok, you're just gonna have to get real low-down if you wanna hear our story. Right here in front of this big wooden chest, we're the couple of lions that are holding this thing up. Fact is, this chest is one of a pair of what the Italians call, cassone. That's right, we're Italian. Guess we kinda lost our accents since moving here to the Getty all those years ago. You might find it even harder to believe, we were once walnut trees. - [Voiceover] Yeah, the artist is really talentissimo. For instance, see how my hair is carved to look soft and curly, even though it's made of wood? - [Voiceover] Are you gonna let me talk, explain why we've been holding up this big old trunk for 500 years? - [Voiceover] Oh, fine. Tell it your way. - [Voicover] See? This is why we sit on opposite sides. Little bit of what some people might call a timeout. That's because we were fighting with one another and had to be separated. - [Voiceover] So, he stays on his side, I stay on mine. - [Voiceover] Look at what great condition we're in. I bet you can't find a scratch on us. We spent just about our whole lives in fancy houses in Italy. If you look closely, you can see the family coat of arms up above us. Right there, in the middle. This trunk we're holding up was most likely carved as a wedding present to hold special linens, like sheets for the beds. - [Voiceover] Yeah, so, (yawns) we're really pretty used to takin it easy around here, just kinda lyin around, you know, no pun intended, like to keep our paws folded on top of one another like this. (yawns)