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[Twana <ru...@fl...>]

Mported it, if one may use such an expression, from Lombardy. It was
used chiefly, like Gobelins Tapestry, to make very costly presents,
otherwise unprocurable, for grandees and crowned heads. For a long time
the work was a Royal monopoly. There are several interesting examples in
the Pitti Palace, in this case in the form of tables. Flowers, fruits,
shells, and even figures and landscapes have been represented in this
manner. Six masters of the art of Pietra Dura came from Milan in 1580,
to instruct the Florentines: and a portrait of Cosimo I. was the first
important result of their labours. It was executed by Maestro Francesco
Ferucci. The Medicean Mausoleum in Florence exhibits magnificent
specimens of this craft. In the time of Ferdinand I. the art was carried
by Florentines to India, where it was used in decorating some of the
palaces. Under Ferdinand II. Pietra Dura reached its climax, there being
in Florence at this time a most noted Frenchman, Luigi Siries, who
settled in Florence in 1722. He refined the art by ceasing to use the
stone as a pigment in producing pictures, and employing it for