Square table top. Marbles and hard stones. Inspired by Italian models of the 16th-17th centuries.
A pearl necklace with a bow has been placed in the center 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 have been placed in the corners, facing two by two with a ball, a crown and located on an architectural motif, visually joined by vegetal scrolls.
This inlay, called "hard stone work", which uses colored marbles and stones with a hardness greater than 6 on the Mohs scale, emerged in Florence, thanks to the attempt of Piero de Medici and Lorenzo the Magnificent to revitalize and update a technique of mosaic called "opus sectile" used in Ancient Rome. He had such success in the European courts that, from the seventeenth century, a series of workshops were created following his example, among which the Gobelin Factory in France, the Royal Workshop in Naples and the one established by Charles III in the Royal Site of El Buen Retiro in Madrid, which continued in operation until the early 19th century. Stylistically, they began with a striking variety of motifs, but, from around 1600, naturalists (flowers, fruits, butterflies, birds ...) were generally preferred.
Table tops, plates, desks, vases, etc. were made with this technique, always for the high aristocracy and royalty due to the very high prices of these works, due to the high specialization required since, very often, it was necessary to import the raw material (lapis lazuli, agates, Belgian black marble used to be for the backgrounds…).
The present example is heir to this important tradition, the influence of which is demonstrated by comparing it with works such as 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 in Naples by Francesco Ghinghi around the middle of the 18th century (inventory O00511) kept in the Prado Museum in Madrid."
· Size: 90x90 cms.
DECORATION
Ref.: AWST99 9...