Minneapolis Institute of Art

Casket

Designer: Giovanni Battista Foggini; Grand Ducal Workshops

Date

c. 1720

Medium

Ebony and oak, slate inlaid with pietre dure (lapis lazuli, agate, jasper, chalcedony, marble and other harstones) and gilded bronze mounts with semiprecious stones

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Pietre dure (hard stones) describes inlay made from such brightly colored stones as lapis lazuli, agate, and jasper. The stones are carefully cut and polished, then fitted together to form intricate designs. Although practiced since antiquity, the art of pietre dure was revived during the late 1500s at the Medici workshop in Florence, which continues in operation today. In 1695, the sculptor and architect Giovanni Battista Foggini became director of the workshop and designed many pietre dure objects for Cosimo III de’ Medici to give as gifts to other members of the European nobility. Foggini’s drawings for the floral panels on this jewelry box are in Florence at the Uffizi Gallery. Italy

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