Illusionistic pictorial mosaics made of cut and polished semi-precious hard stones pietre dure was an art form invented in florence in the late sixteenth century; it flourished in that city well into the nineteenth century. Among the last masters of this art were the Montelatici family, especially Giovanni Montelatici and his son Mario. Mario began making Pietre dure mosaics at the age of nine and completed his last work just four days before his death in 1974 at the age of 90. He drew the inspiration for his compositions from paintings by the Macchiaioli as well as from popular illustration. The present lot is typical of his work, both in its superlative technique, and its genre subject matter.