A Florentine Pietra Dura panel of the chianti man, 19th century Italy. "Painting in stone"

Framed in antique wooden frame.

Frame: 24.5cm x 13.5cm

Panel: 21.5cm x 10.5cm

Exquisite detail in the inlaid panel. This pietra dura panel consists of a variety of semi precious stones including Malachite, Quartz, Rouge Marble, and Lapis Lazuli.

Pietra dura developed from the ancient Roman opus sectile, which at least in terms of surviving examples, was architectural, used on floors and walls, with both geometric and figurative designs. In the Middle Ages cosmatesque floors and small columns, etc. on tombs and altars continued to use inlays of different colours in geometric patterns. Byzantine art continued with inlaid floors, but also produced some small religious figures in hardstone inlays, for example in the Pala d'Oro in San Marco, Venice (though this mainly uses enamel). In the Italian Renaissance this technique again was used for images. The Florentines, who most fully developed the form, however, regarded it as 'painting in stone'.

As it developed in Florence, the technique was initially called "opere di commessi" (approximately, "Fitted together works"). Medici Grand Duke Ferdinando I of Tuscany founded the Galleria di Lavori in 1588, now the Opificio delle pietre dure, for the purpose of developing this and other decorative forms.