Giovanni di ser Giovanni Guidi, known as
Lo Scheggia, and workshop, Unindentified Story,

1465-1470. Poplar wood, cut on the first

or last board of the trunk, 45 x 174.7 x 1.5 cm.

Castle of Écouen, Musée national de la Renaissance.

 

 

Furniture inlaid with stones

 

The Renaissance did not limit its aim to mere elegance of form and the scientific construction of furniture. As soon as its cabinet makers had ornamented their credenzas and cabinets of architectural structure with masterly sculptures, they aspired to additional splendour and enriched the entablatures and pedestals of columns with panelling of marble in various forms and colours.

Italy researched further, and by an excess of luxury, perhaps because original genius had become exhausted, and substituted rare and precious materials for the masterpieces of art, and transformed the stipi, armoires, clocks, and even the tables into mosaics of hard stones, pietra dura. Did this new practice initiate in Florence? We believe so because the application of stone became known as Florentine mosaic and has retained this title ever since.

We will endeavour to follow the different phases of this transformation, the progress of which must have been gradual. First the ebony cabinets received lapis lazuli or jasper columns, with pedestals and entablatures of gilt-bronze, the compartments of the drawers or the panelled spaces between the columns were ornamented with oval or polygonal medallions of agate, carnelian, jasper and lapis lazuli. Gilded mouldings soon became frames for these rich compositions. One step further remained to be taken, and was soon accomplished: wood was no longer used except as a simple framework into which the real mosaic works were set, a mosaic certainly very different from the painting in close set cubes invented by the veterans, which had flourished so greatly in Italy since the Middle Ages.

The mosaic work of Florence consists in an assemblage of cut pieces chosen from gems, resembling as nearly as possible the colour of the object intended to be represented. For example, if it is a bird, the undulations or speckles of the breast feathers are imitated by means of a finely veined marble of a tint varying from chamois to brown, the neck or the wings borrow their red stains from carnelian or jasper; if fruits are to be copied, cherries for instance still use carnelian, being chosen in its transition state from bright red to white to represent its roundness and the effect, if necessary, can be heightened through the use of a red hot iron. It has been ascertained that certain stones change their tints when exposed to a high temperature, some assuming a deeper colour and others becoming paler. By skilfully making use of this knowledge, works may be enriched and brought nearer to nature.

A large cabinet in the Musée de Cluny, unfortunately disfigured by successive additions, exhibits the Florentine pietra dura work in its full development. Here we see landscapes with buildings, in another part birds and fruits, especially cherries; the luminous point is obtained by the discolouration of the carnelian through the use of a heated iron. Most of these subjects are framed in lapis and the cabinet itself is overlaid with tortoise shell.

It is easy to fix an approximate date to the principal modifications we have just pointed out. The stipi simply relieved by columns and medallions of pietra dura, which we might designate as gemmed furniture, belong to the last days of the Renaissance. In the reign of Louis XIII, it is classed as the gilded furniture with real mosaics still retaining the architectural disposition which we pointed out in the carved ebony. A new phase appears under Louis XIV; the small pieces of furniture have disappeared, the “Sun” king requires a far different grandeur from the diminutive monuments; the pietra dura work of Florence is not discarded, on the contrary it is destined to cover those enormous tables with gilded feet on which bronze and porphyry vases stand. But more than that, without seeking it from Italy, it will be executed in Parisian workshops of the Gobelins, founded by the king and directed by Charles Le Brun.

Magnificent specimens of this work may be seen in the Galerie d’Apollon of the Louvre; it is easy to recognise it by the style of its arabesques, the palmette, shells and wreaths which surround the royal escutcheons. Upon comparing them with the mosaics of Italian origin, we find equal perfection and intelligence in the patient choice of the elements. While we are speaking of patience, we refer the connoisseur to that table on which a member belonging to the king’s household has represented the map of France divided into provinces, with all of the legends carefully inlaid.

The vast conception of Louis XIV did not prevent the Florentine mosaic work from being applied to smaller objects: we have mentioned clocks and we now return to them. Every amateur will have remarked at the Exhibition of the Corps législatif, a clock belonging to Gustave de Rothschild, the richness of which was unrivalled. Its carved base of variegated jasper had a bronze gilt palm at its centre, whence a bunch of flowers hung suspended. The body, with circular pediment and angular sides, was framed in bronze gilt with masks crowned by a palmette that supported two cornucopias filled with flowers in stones. On a lapis lazuli bottom, the dial stood in relief surrounded by a garland of fruits and flowers in stones enriched by rubies and emeralds which hung down on both sides. Underneath, surrounded by similar garlands, was a female bust executed in stones and framed in bronze. At the corners, gilt-bronze caryatids representing the arts and sciences supported the entablature surmounted by an ebony dome, inlaid with gilt-bronze and enclosed by an open gallery; the dome was crowned by a basket filled with fruit coloured stones. If we have dwelt so long on the description of this piece, it is because it is of well-known interest; it is not a mere mosaic of stones, it is a sculpture in bas-relief in some parts, and in high relief in others. The form of this work of art is remarkable; it is the so-called pendule religieuse of the period of Louis XIV and the beauty of the materials employed with the perfection of its workmanship rank it amongst masterpieces of the highest class.

The establishment of the Gobelins workshop for mosaic work proves the great value attached to this costly work, so appropriate for the luxury of Versailles. Indeed, it is among the inlaid Boulle that, when placed in contact with silverware and vases of hard material, these mosaics appear to the greatest advantage; their splendour eclipses carved and inlaid ebony, and makes even the finest patina of the bronzes appear cold.