Polychrome Revival

Polychrome Revival is a collectible furniture series that draws on the visual language of late medieval altarpieces and illuminated manuscripts, translating saturated colour and graphic ornament into everyday objects. While earlier medieval imagery often used vivid colour symbolically, it is in the late Middle Ages that painters and craftsmen begin to use it within scenes of increasingly legible space and a more naturalistic perspective. These works reveal a heightened, radiant world, an atmosphere of joy and intensity that persists even as the period is shaped by epidemics, social conflict, and war. In a present defined by comparable pressures, this register is mobilised to construct interiors that are unmistakably vivid: spaces that concentrate energy, sharpen perception, and expand the emotional bandwidth of everyday life.

The collection is developed as a cast of friendly interior characters, deliberately navigating a set of references between the archaic and the avant-garde. Starting from the chromatic logic of late medieval representation and working with clear tectonic geometries softened and enriched by geometric ornament, the series forms a coherent, inclusive ensemble: a family of pieces that challenges the whiteness of modernist interior narratives and advances a visual grammar for emerging modes of living together.

Structurally, Polychrome Revival is built around a tectonic–decorative system. Each piece is hand-crafted in wood and finished with water-based paints, with corners, joints, and floor-contact points articulated and celebrated through simple geometric elements. The production process prioritises material and environmental responsibility: the pieces are made almost completely from beech wood, and the water-based finishing system supports a lower-impact production process. They are made to be lived with and to age gracefully. The collection has been hand-crafted by Obraba in Milan and photographed by Piercarlo Quecchia (DSL Studio). Each design is issued in a numbered edition of 11 per colourway.

Cornetta, polychrome chair, Polychrome Revival collectible furniture by Continentale

Cornetta. Chair. Water-based painted wood, foam-padded seat. 62 × 60 × 99 cm (w × d × h). Numbered edition of 11 per colourway.

Liudmila, polychrome chair, Polychrome Revival collectible furniture by Continentale

Liudmila. Chair. Water-based painted wood, foam-padded seat. 62 × 60 × 99 cm (w × d × h). Numbered edition of 11 per colourway.

Teodolinda, polychrome bookcase, Polychrome Revival collectible furniture by Continentale

Teodolinda. Bookcase. Water-based painted wood. 160 × 45 × 228 cm (w × d × h). Numbered edition of 11 per colourway.

Leonello, polychrome table, Polychrome Revival collectible furniture by Continentale

Leonello. Table. Water-based painted wood. 200 × 80 × 76 cm (w × d × h). Numbered edition of 11.

Viviano, polychrome sofa, Polychrome Revival collectible furniture by Continentale

Viviano. Sofa. Water-based painted wood, foam-padded seat. 210 × 80 × 89 cm (w × d × h). Numbered edition of 11.

Polychrome Revival is designed by Continentale. The collection was shown at Milan Design Week 2026 with L’Essenziale Studio Magazine at Frab’s, and at Design Days 2026 at La Rasude, Lausanne, with the support of Pro Helvetia.
Enquiries: polychrome@continentale.ch.