Philip II's Tabletop
Before 1587. Agate, Jasper, Lapis lazuli, African marble, White marble Room 029This tabletop was sent from Rome by Cardinal Alessandrino, nephew of Pope Pius V, to Philip II of Spain in 1587. Of unusual proportions, it is designed to create the impression that the inlay is made of precious stones. The bronze mounts date from the reign of Isabel II. Like the Table of don Rodrigo Calderon (O00448), this tabletop rests on four of the twelve lions that Velazquez commissioned from Matteo Bonuccelli during the painter´s second trip to Rome (1649-1651). The lions were arranged in pairs, holding up six porphyry sideboards in the Salon de Espejos in the Alcazar in Madrid. They retain their original gilding of 1651 and have been used since 1839 to support these elaborate hardstone tabletops.
