CIRCULAR PIETRA DURA TABLETOP. MARBLE AND HARDSTONES.

Circular tabletop in marbles and hard stones. Inspired by Italian models from the 16th and 17th centuries. In the center of the panel, surrounded by a garland of flowers, is a pearl necklace with a bow. Around this element are four vases with birds perched on interspersed branches, and further out, a band with vegetal scrolls. This area is framed by another with simplified scrolls and yet another with more elaborate scrolls interspersed with scallop shells, heraldic shields, and perched birds. The fleur-de-lis border clearly shows the influence of Gobelins tapestry on this panel. The French workshop was established to produce this type of marquetry for the French court and is heir to the native center of hard stonework: Florence, under Piero de' Medici and Lorenzo the Magnificent, who sought to revive a Roman mosaic technique called opus sectile. It is also worth mentioning the Royal Workshop of Naples and the one established by Charles III at the Royal Palace of El Buen Retiro in Madrid, which closed at the beginning of the 19th century. After 1600, the primacy of the decorative motifs that appeared in the 15th century became clear, with elements such as birds, butterflies, and pearl necklaces being added over time. The present example inherits all this tradition: compare with the table made by Francesco Ghinghi in the Royal Laboratory of the Pietre Dure in Naples (catalog number O00511) and the board (O00466) from around the middle of the 18th century, both in the Prado Museum in Madrid, those preserved in the Opificio delle Pietre Dure Museum in Florence (especially works such as the board made as a model for a table by Jacopo Ligozzi around 1610). Traditionally, a technique very similar to marquetry was used, but employing, instead of wood, marbles of different colors and veins and hard stones (greater than 6 on the Mohs scale) such as lapis lazuli, agates… In the present example, many of those used in works between the 16th and 18th centuries have been included, which makes it an outstanding work.

· Size: Diam. 150 cms.