Painting in Stone. Modern Florentine "Pietra Dura" Mosaic

The volume explores the world of modern Florentine Mosaic workshops with the support of unpublished documentation from the turn of the XIX century until the half of XX century. Beautifully illustrated with many details and period documentation. An iconographic collection that makes available to scholars, collectors and amateurs a vast visual documentation of Florentine mosaics mostly dispersed around the world and difficult to access. More than 200 photographs illustrate the impressive masterpieces created by Florentine artists, heirs of the tradition of the Medici Gran-ducal workshop. The book examines the connections between mosaic workshops and painters in the context of the art dealer's world and the international trade and patronage. In keeping with the late nineteenth century style the Florentine mosaicist embraced the genre of domestic and sentimental subjects, challenging the paintings with a virtuoso technique. A technical section explains the process of the mosaic work and illustrate a specimen of the typical materials used, such as semi precious stones - pietre dure - and local stones from the Arno river valley and Tuscan quarries. Of special interest a comprehensive appendix listing the mosaics panels in museums, private collections, auctions or documented by period photos.