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From the ancient history of decorative stonework comes a very special artistic phenomenon, and this richly illustrated, large-format book tells its fascinating story. The phenomenon is *pietre dure*, or polychrome hardstone inlay, which resurfaced in Rome in the sixteenth century, within the context of the artistic flowering of the Italian Renaissance. Rome, where art took its inspiration from the cult of antiquity, fell in love with the evocative power of hardstones. Tabletops were covered in stones, inlaid into delicate floral panels or shining out, from ovals of opalescent alabaster.

From Rome, pietre dure spread to Florence, where the Medici family founded a prestigious workshop in 1588, dedicated to the production of hardstone works using materials such as coral, garnet, jasper and lapis lazuli. The art flourished for three centuries, thanks to the virtuoso skills of the finest craftsmen. Other workshops were founded at the Court of Rudolf II in Prague, and of Louis XIV in France, before spreading to Naples and Madrid under the Bourbon dynasty. 
In this way, Florentine inlay grew to become a tirelessly imaginative artistic language, capable of imbuing works of decorative art with the most astonishing beauty and creating masterpieces which still glow just as brightly today, long after the fall of their royal patrons.

This book brilliantly captures the beauty and craftsmanship of this ancient technique, illustrating in scores of dazzling photographs outstanding examples of pietre dure, including works designed for the Cappella dei Principi, Florence, and the Schloss Favorite, Rastatt.

Applied arts. Arts and crafts --- inlay [process] --- polychromy --- inlays [decorations] --- pietra dura [visual works] --- marble [rock] --- Florentine --- mosaics [visual works]

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Permet de découvrir un art inspiré des pavements de marbre romains, consistant à travailler les pierres dures (jaspe, saphir, calcédoine, lapis-lazuli, etc.) pour créer des mosaïques, des décors muraux, ou des meubles.De l'histoire fort ancienne des piérres dures se détache un phénomène ` artistique bien particulier dont ce livre retrace la fascinante aventure : l'intarsio ou la marqueterie de pierres polychromes. C'est à Florence que les Médicis fondent, dès 1588 ; une prestigieuse manufacture dédiée aux mosaïques de pierres dures ou commessi. On y utilise corail, grenat, saphir, etc. La manufacture brillera trois siècles durant, grâce à la virtuosité des meilleurs spécialistes. D'autres manufactures ouvrent leurs portes à Prague, à la cour de Rodolphe II de Habsbourg et aux Gobelins du Roi-Soleil, avant d'essaimer dans les royaumes de Bourbon, à Naples et à Madrid. S'élabore ainsi un langage international de la « mosaïque florentine> », capable de créer, dans le domaine des arts décoratifs, des oeuvres d'une beauté absolue. Cet ouvrage propose d'en découvrir ou d'en retrouver les plus belles réalisations.

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