Your pietra dura picture is Italian and signed by the artist on the back. Pietra dura is an Italian term for the process of inlaying stone to form a pictorial or patterned design. Marble, semi-precious and even sometimes precious stones are cut and sliced using saws, wires, files, polishing cloths and other tools. The cut stones are then inset and glued down onto a stone substrate to create a design. The stones are so tightly fit together that the seams are difficult to see; pieta dura is unlike a mosaic that has grout between its joints. Artisans creating pietra dura utilize the natural and inherent properties in different stones to add to the imagery and detail.

Pietra dura developed in ancient Rome and was first used architecturally in floors. During the Italian Renaissance in Florence, the Medici family created a workshop where pietra dura began being used for more portable decorative art, such as table tops, drawer fronts, framed pictures and jewelry.

This beautiful piece paints the skyline of old Florence with stones of different types, joined together so superbly without a grout line. Will be a conversational piece in your home or office that you will be proud to talk about..

Dimensions: 

Picture: 4.75 x 3 inches

Frame: 7.5 x 6 inches