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`Pietre dure' are mosaic designs made from semi-precious stones. This richly illustrated, large format book brilliantly captures the beauty and craftsmanship of this ancient technique of `painting in stone', looking at decorative stonework techniques from prehistory to the present day, but focusing in particular on the period from its rebirth in 16th-century Rome to the developments of the 19th century.

Pietre Dure and the Art of Florentine Inlay

I. The Eternal Fascination of Pietre Dure - presents the various kinds of mosaic using semi-precious stones and the different ways they have been used from prehistory to the present day * II. The Roman Renaissance and the Renewed Interest in Polychrome Pietre Dure - the rebirth of pietre dure in 16th-century Rome * III. Production in Florence under the Medicis - the most coherent and spectacular period in the history of European pietre dure * IV. The Success of Pietre Dure in Europe During the 18th Century - Royal Workshops throughout Europe * V. Glories of the Ancien Regime - Production under the Hapsburgs, Bourbons, Catherine II, Frederic II and the French Court * VI. From the Splendours of the Court to the Luxury of the Borghese - Florentine production in the 19th century.