Design for a chimney-piece

Although this design for an elaborate chimney-piece has been published under the name of Jacques Androuet du Cerceau (c. 1515-1585), it was executed by a still unidentified artist. Such elaborated designs are often confused with the oeuvre of Androuet du Cerceau, one of the greatest architects in 16th-century France in the tradition of Sebastiano Serlio (1475-ca. 1554) and Andrea Palladio (1508-1580). The piece is decorated with an interesting combination of nude figures, reminiscent of mythological scenes, and a scene from the Old Testament in the centre: the Judgement of Salomon, surmounted on both sides by the figures of Adam and Eve. The very top of the structure shows the Creation of Eve.