Pietra Dure The Art of Semiprecious Stonework

Pietra dure (Italian for "hard stone") is mosaic design made from semiprecious stones. This comprehensive survey looks at the uses of decorative stonework and the variety of techniques used to produce it from prehistory to the present day, focusing especially on the period from its rebirth in sixteenth-century Rome through the developments of the nineteenth century. The history of pietra dure in the modern era began in Rome in the 1500s where, thanks to patrons' commissions, new techniques and new types of designs appeared, intended for interior and furniture decoration. These innovations spread throughout Italy in the seventeenth century, producing the most spectacular period in the history of pietra dure in Florence under the Medici. In the eighteenth century numerous royal workshops based on the Florentine model appeared across Europe, under the patronage of the Hapsburgs in Prague, Louis XIV in France, and Frederick II in Prussia. Annamaria Giusti's richly illustrated book captures the beauty and craftsmanship of this ancient technique for "painting in stone."Giusti, Annamaria is the author of 'Pietra Dure The Art of Semiprecious Stonework', published 2006 under ISBN 9780892368495 and ISBN 0892368497.