Pietre dure

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Pope Clement VIII in pietre dure designed by Jacopo Ligozzi, executed by Romolo di Francesco Ferrucci del Tadda

Pietre dure is the art-historical term for the technique of using small, exquisitely cut and fitted, highly-polished colored stones to create what amounts to a painting in stone. It is considered a decorative art. The stonework, after the work is assembled loosely, is glued stone-by-stone to a substrate after having previously been "sliced and cut in different shape sections; and then assembled together so precisely that the contact between each section was practically invisible".^[1] Stability was achieved by grooving the undersides of the stones so that they interlocked, rather much like a jigsaw puzzle, with everything held tautly in place by an encircling 'frame'. Many different colored stones, particularly marbles, were used, along with semiprecious, and even precious stones. It first appears in Rome in the 1500s^[2] but reaches its full maturity in Florence.

Pietre dure is an Italian plural meaning hard rocks, or perhaps better durable stone and is the preferred term; the singular pietre dura is also encountered. The English term "Florentine mosaic" is sometimes also encountered, as is "micromosaic", but these are disparaged, often as terms developed by the tourist industry.

As an artistic medium, it descends from Byzantine mosaics, especially their predilection for incorporating semiprecious and precious stones into the work. It is distinct from mosaic, however, in that first, the stones are not cemented together with grout, and second, for the fact that the works in pietre dure are generally portable.

For fixed inlay work on walls, ceilings and pavements that do not meet the definition for mosiac, the terms intarsia or cosmati/cosmatesque are better used. Similarly, for works that use larger pieces of stone (or tile), opus sectile may be used. Pietre dure is essentially stone marquetry. As a high expression of lapidary art, it is closely related to the jewlers art. It can also been seen as a branch of sculpture as three-dimensionality can be achieved, as with a bas relief.^[3] The Florentines, who most fully developed the form, however, regarded it as 'painting in stone'. It is stated that Domenico Ghirlandaio "dubbed the medium 'Pittura per l'eternità' -- that is, painting for eternity".^[4]

Floral intarsia work in the Taj Mahal, incorporating precious and semi-precious stones

As it developed in Florence, the technique was initially called opere di commessi (approximately, "Works of the commisariat") Medici Grand Duke Ferdinando I of Tuscany founded the Galleria di'Lavori in 1588,^[5] now the Opificio delle pietre dure (Italian wikipedia) for the purpose of developing this and other decorative forms. By the early part of the 1600s, smaller objects were widely diffused through Europe, and even in the East to the court of the Mughals in India,^[6] where the form was imitated and reinterpreted in a native style; its most luxurious expression is found in the Taj Mahal.

A multitude of varied objects were created. Table tops were particularly prized, and these tend to be the largest specimens. Smaller items in the form of medallions, cameos, wall plaques, panels inserted into doors or onto cabinets, bowls, jardinieres, garden ornaments, fountains, benches, etc. are all found. A popular form was to copy an existing painting, often of a human figure, as illustrated by the image of Pope Clement VIII, above. Examples are found in many museums. The medium was transported to other European centers of court art and remained popular into the 19th century. In particular, Naples became a noted center of the craft. By the 20th century, the medium was in decline, in part by the assault of modernism, and the craft had been reduced to mainly restoration work. In recent decades, however, the form has been revived, and receives state-funded sponsorship. Modern examples range from tourist-oriented kitsch including syrupy reproductions of 19th century style religious subjects (especially in Florence and Naples), to works copying or based on older designs used for luxurious decorative contexts, to works in a genuinely contemporary artistic idiom.