Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300136722 ISBN 13: 9780300136722

Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2008

Synopsis

This beautiful catalogue provides a comprehensive history of pietre dure, a virtuoso form of hardstone carving that reached an artistic peak in Italy in the 16th century and subsequently spread throughout Europe.

 

The demanding practice of pietre dure, first used in ancient times, enjoyed a spectacular revival in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. By artistic cutting, semiprecious stones—agate, lapis lazuli, chalcedony, and other colorful hardstones—were fashioned into extravagantly designed luxury objects such as table tops, wall panels, cabinets, and ornate display vessels. Both as objects of desire and as diplomatic gifts, these precious creations captivated the affluent societies of Europe. Art of the Royal Court presents 150 masterpieces of pietre dure, many of which are further embellished with gold and silver mounts or decorated with exotic woods and other coveted materials. 

About this title

About the Author:

Annamaria Giusti is Chief Curator at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure e Laboratori di Restauro, Florence. Wolfram Koeppe is curator in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Review:

"The catalogue, in its attention to detail, is a major advancement in the subject. Pietre dure are studied mainly in Europe and not much attention has been devoted to them in the United States...Thus it is the first time some of these pieces have been given any serious scholarship in English...The catalogue is a superbe effort to explain a complex subject."--Rachael Goldman, Sixteenth Century Journal (Rachael Goldman Sixteenth Century Journal)

About this edition

• Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0300136722
• ISBN 13: 9780300136722
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 428
• Editor: Giusti Annamaria, Koeppe Wolfram