A Month in Bella Italia

[Lisbeth]

Unfortunately, I did not have the time to visit Palazzo Vecchio

[Lisbeth]

I did go to the "Opificio Delle Pietre Dure" though.

The Opificio delle Pietre dure, literally meaning Workshop of semi-precious stones, is a public institute of the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage based in Florence. It is a global leader in the field of art restoration and provides teaching as one of two Italian state conservation schools.

Table top of scagliola

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Scagliola, which represents a less costly imitative technique than stone intarsia work is, however, far more complex.
It consists of pouring variously coloured liquid gesso into a hollowed cavity in a previously prepared gesso layer.
The final polishing of the composition with the aid of animal glue confers an aspect similar to stone inlay work.

Beautiful table top

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Panels with a Vase of Flowers, 1600 - 1650
Hardstones (lapis lazuli, amethyst, Sicilian jasper, Sienese agate, chalcedony, and carnelian), marbles (verde antico, rosso antico, bianco e nero), and alabaster, set into black Belgian marble.

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Flutterbys

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Dante protected by glass

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Table top - Detail
Stone intarsia work

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Medici-Lorraine crest
Stone intarsia work

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Black marble vase in stone intarsia work and scagliola

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I would like this one to be mine I used to own a round table top like those, but had to sell it, with lots of other things last time that we moved, due to lack of space

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[Lisbeth]

Being one of the famous artistic workshops of the Italian Renaissance, the Opificio was established in 1588 at the behest of Ferdinando I de' Medici to provide the elaborate, inlaid precious and semi-precious stoneworks. One of the masterpieces of the crafts is the overall decoration of the Cappella dei Principi (Chapel of Princes) in the Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze. The technique, which originated from Byzantine inlay work, was perfected by the Opificio masters and the artworks they produced became known as "opera di commessi medicei" (commesso is the old name of the technique, similar to ancient mosaics) and later as "commesso in pietre dure" (semi-precious stones mosaic).

The place was so relaxing; very few people and renaissance music at the right volume, lovely

This is a slice of a tree which has petrified

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At the end was the old workshop

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Of course, there were many more lovely artworks, but they should really be seen personally, not in photos, to render the real beauty and give credit to the cleverness of the artists. Some of those pieces were sublime

[Flutterby]

They are lovely!! Between us, we probably saw most of the museums in Florence!

[Lisbeth]

I missed quite a few churches

[Richprins]

Nice, Flutts!

[Flutterby]

That was Lis's post above.

[Richprins]

[Pumbaa]

Beautiful, Flutterby, totally

Gladly both cities are not that far away from us North Europeans and worth a visit also over a long weekend - Especially for me also a big fan of Dan Brown a must one day

[Flutterby]

I love it when I can visit places I read about in books!