History
The Florentine mosaic is a special technique that was born and developed in Tuscany.The Medici family was the first to recognize the uniqueness of this style and to promote it.
Cosimo I showed a strong interest in the ancient precious marbles, an interest that extended to the experimentation of precious materials.
Francesco I called important artisans in Florence and Ferdinando.
I started the construction of the family mausoleum, the tomb was funded by the court allowing them to build a workshop formed of highly specialized artists that adopted this artistic technique specializing in inlays of semi-precious stones to build the Chapel of the Princes inside the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence, a place dedicated to hosting the remains of the members of the Medici family, the Opicifio delle Pietre Dure di Firenze
Today’s production
Various kinds of precious stones such as porphyry, lapis lazuli, jade, granite or other precious stones are cut with a metallic thread. Traditionally flowers, landscapes and figures, reproduced through the use of stones of various colors.
The blocks are then fixed with glue on rigid supports such as tables, furniture and finally polished. In fact, the final polishing of the work is still fundamental, which is still performed by hand and which allows the colors, stains and veins of the stones to stand out in all their beauty.
It can be said that it is a 100% Florentine product, a family tradition that today is held in the hands of, for example, the Fratelli Traversari & di Renzo and Leonardo Scarpelli.