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Lot Essay
The art of Pietre Dure is a mosaic technique perfected in Florence at the end of the 16th Century and still practised there. It employs hard, rare and semiprecious stones cut with great precision into thin sheets, shaped then fitted together with almost invisible join lines. Natural markings in the stone are used to achieve effects of chiaroscuro, perspective and pattern. This technique originated in the opus sectile of the ancient world.
From the 17th century onwards, craftsmen of the Grand Ducal workshops in Florence have tried to make their work look as much like brush painting as possible. According to Antonio Zobi (A. Zobi, Notizie storische sull'origine e progressi dei lavori di commesso in pietre dure nell'I. e R. Stabilimento di Firenze, Stamperia Granducale, Florence, 1853), 'The time at which real painting began to be imitated in Florence with natural coloured stones inlaid in mosaic to portray objects as if they had been painted with a paint brush' is discussed in a document dated 1597 and relating to a portrait of Cosimo da Medici by the painter Cresti, painting which was given to a stoneworker, Francesco Ferrucci, to be copied into a mosaic picture. Pietre dure enjoyed great popularity through the centuries until the first quarter of the 19th century, where it went out of fashion until circa 1880. The revival of interest for pietre dure is due to the skilful mosaicist, Giovanni Montelatici, who's works were selling successfully to foreign buyers. His production covered just about every subject, favouring sentimental domestic scenes with glimpses of rural life.
From the 17th century onwards, craftsmen of the Grand Ducal workshops in Florence have tried to make their work look as much like brush painting as possible. According to Antonio Zobi (A. Zobi, Notizie storische sull'origine e progressi dei lavori di commesso in pietre dure nell'I. e R. Stabilimento di Firenze, Stamperia Granducale, Florence, 1853), 'The time at which real painting began to be imitated in Florence with natural coloured stones inlaid in mosaic to portray objects as if they had been painted with a paint brush' is discussed in a document dated 1597 and relating to a portrait of Cosimo da Medici by the painter Cresti, painting which was given to a stoneworker, Francesco Ferrucci, to be copied into a mosaic picture. Pietre dure enjoyed great popularity through the centuries until the first quarter of the 19th century, where it went out of fashion until circa 1880. The revival of interest for pietre dure is due to the skilful mosaicist, Giovanni Montelatici, who's works were selling successfully to foreign buyers. His production covered just about every subject, favouring sentimental domestic scenes with glimpses of rural life.