To find out more about the making of pietre dure, refer to the video Making a Pietre Dure panel, in references


The creation of pictures in hardstone, so called pietre dure (Italian for ‘hard stones’), work has been an art associated in particular with Florence from the sixteenth century onwards. There, artists specialising in stone mosaics were first commissioned by Grand Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici (reigned 1569-74). His brother and successor Grand Duke Ferdinand I de’ Medici (reigned 1574-1609) elevated the art officially through the court workshops, established in 1588. The presence of this important centre also lead to the foundation of numerous private workshops, drawing upon the large number of craftsmen trained at the Ducal workshops.

Pietre Dure artists always aimed at a niche clientele, few could afford precious pictures in stone. The first half of the twentieth century was therefore a particularly challenging period for Florentine pietre workshops: traditions of production and style held dear for centuries were challenged in a rapidly changing world. They responded with changes in technique, preferring less expensive Tuscan stones, as well as with a change of subject-matters and styles away from traditional motives. The most exciting works from this period share a realism and preference for rural subjects, celebrating the simple pleasures and harsh reality of a Tuscan farmers’ life at the time, amid the beauty of the natural landscape. It is hard to imagine a starker contrast to the romantic couples set against varying historic backdrops, which were the dominant subject of Florentine pietre dure makers only a generation earlier. The change in imagery is in part supported by a different palette of stones used for their creation: Tuscan limestone increasingly replaced marbles. The pictures therefore have softer colours and are more akin to watercolours than to oil paintings when seen from a distance.