MANUFACTURE GRAND-DUCALE DE FLORENCE

Painting in "commesso" representing a couple in polychrome dress of the eighteenth century on a background of black Parangon. Florence, second half of the 18th century. Presented in a blackened wood frame, decorated with a chased and gilded bronze molding with water leaves from the later period. Height: 23.5 cm - Width: 17 cm The grand-ducal factory of hard stones of Florence was founded in the 16th century by Ferdinand I de Medici, who reigned from 1587 to 1609. He was the first sovereign in Europe to found a state factory in 1588, where the multiple workshops were exclusively intended for a court with sophisticated and demanding tastes. Created by the third Grand Duke of Tuscany, this "Galleria dei Lavori", which other royal factories, such as the Gobelins of the Sun King, would take as a model, soon acquired international renown, mainly thanks to its noble works in hard stone. BIBLIOGRAPHY La marqueterie de Pierres Dures by Annamaria Giusti, published by Citadelles & Mazenod. Splendori di pietre dure, by Annamaria Giusti, published by Giunti. Mosaici e pietre dure, mosaici a piccole tessere, Pietre dure a Parigi e a Napoli, by Alvar Gonzãlez-Palacios, published by Fabbri. Mosaici e pietre dure, Firenze-Paesi Germanici-Madrid, by Alvar Gonzãlez-Palacios, published by Fabbri. La pittura di pietra, by Ferdinando Rossi, published by Giunti.