SQUARE PIETRA DURA TABLETOP. MARBLE AND HARDSTONES.

Square table top. Marble and hard stones. Inspired by Italian models from the 16th-17th centuries. A pearl necklace with a bow is placed in the centre of the board on a black background. It is surrounded by an area of plant scrolls, flowers and perched birds framed by a band of simplified scrolls. On the outside, eight fish are placed in the corners, facing each other in pairs with a ball, a crown and placed on an architectural motif, visually linked by plant scrolls. This inlay, known as “hard stone work”, which uses coloured marbles and stones with a hardness greater than 6 on the Mohs scale, originated in Florence, thanks to the attempt by Piero de Medici and Lorenzo the Magnificent to revitalise and update a mosaic technique called “opus sectile” used in Ancient Rome. It was so successful in the European courts that, from the 17th century, a series of workshops were created following its example, among which the Gobelins Factory in France, the Royal Workshop of Naples and the one established by Charles III in the Royal Site of El Buen Retiro in Madrid, which continued to operate until the beginning of the 19th century, are worth mentioning. Stylistically, they began with a striking variety of motifs, but, from around 1600, naturalistic ones were generally preferred (flowers, fruits, butterflies, birds, etc.). Table tops, plaques, desks, vases, etc. were made using this technique, always for the high aristocracy and royalty due to the extremely high prices of these works, due to the high specialization required, since, very often, the raw material had to be imported (lapis lazuli, agates, Belgian black marble was usually for the backgrounds...). The present example is heir to this important tradition, whose influence is demonstrated by comparing it with works such as those in the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence, the Roman panel from towards the end of the 16th century (inventory 62,259) in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, or the one made in Naples by Francesco Ghinghi towards the middle of the 18th century (inventory O00511) preserved in the Prado Museum in Madrid.

· Size: 90x90 cms.