HardstonesThe technique of Hardstone mosaic was developed in the sixteenth century under the patronage of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, in parallel with the revival of Roman mosaics made from tiny tesserae. Complex images were created from a matrix of coloured marbles and semiprecious stones, selected and cut with breathtaking craftsmanship. During the seventeenth century the technique was used in the production of some of the most magnificent luxury objects in Italy; in the eighteenth century, panels of landscapes, birds and flowers were incorporated into furniture and snuffboxes. This gave way in the nineteenth century to the production of pictures in extraordinarily convincing imitation of oil paintings. |
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Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS | 6 |
SNUFF BOXES | 137 |
HARDSTONE PICTURES | 159 |
Copyright | |
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agate alabaster altar Angeles County Museum Antonio Arte del Mosaico artists base black marble border breccia cabinet carved casket central centre century Pietre dure chalcedony Christie's coloured marble COMMENTARY Cosimo Cosimo Fanzago craftsmen decorated dell'Opificio delle Pietre depicting DESCRIPTION designs drawers ebony eighteenth century Emperatori 1975 EXHIBITIONS Filippo Napoletano floral Florence Florentine Florentine mosaic flowers Francesco Gilbert Collection gilt bronze Giovanni Giovanni Battista Foggini Giuseppe Valadier Giusti gold González González-Palacios González-Palacios 1977a González-Palacios and Röttgen Grand Ducal workshops hardstone inlaid intarsia jasper landscape lapis lazuli LITERATURE London malachite Medici mosaic mosaic panels motifs mounts Museo dell'Opificio Museum of Art Naples nineteenth century Pietre Opificio ornamentation painting picture pieces pietre dure 1988 pietre dure panels pietre tenere plaques porphyry PROVENANCE rectangular Roman Rome scagliola seams second half seventeenth century side similar snuffbox Sotheby's Splendori di pietre style tabletop Valadier vases white marble