Savonarola chair
The Renaissance folding chair of crossed, curved staves, named after the friar Savonarola.
The type was common in Italy around 1500 and was named much later after the Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola. Fine examples are in the Bargello in Florence and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Materials: Walnut, often inlaid with lighter wood
Manufacture: Curved staves cross each other and pivot on a common axis; the back panel is carved.
The row of S-shaped crossed staves forming both legs and arms.
The chair folds – a legacy of medieval camp stools.