Pietra Dura Table
Maker Unknown
Date: 17th century
Place Made: Probably Italy
Materials & Techniques: White marble, carved in high relief, the top of black marble, inlaid with various coloured marbles and semi-precious stones including lapis lazuli
Dimensions: Top: 139.2 x 98.7 x 3.8 cm
Base: 73.5 x 61.5 cm
Accession Number: Waddesdon Manor 6147
This table top is made of a large piece of black marble. It is not just a table though, it is also a picture. Can you see the stag hunted by dogs in a landscape with trees? The picture is surrounded by smaller pictures of flowers, insects and birds. It was made by cutting the design into the marble with chisels and drills. The design was then hollowed out of the marble and new pieces of coloured stones were cut into the correct shapes and placed in the holes. These were chosen to mimic the natural colours of the scene - for example blue lapis lazuli was used for some of the birds' feathers.
This technique is called Pietra Dura (or hard stone) inlay and it was first used in Italy.
We do not know who made the table, but we think it was made in the 17th century.
Over the years the table has been damaged, and some of the coloured stones have moved and lifted so that the table has an uneven surface.
Teachers' Information
The technique called Pietra Dura was invented in Italy in the 16th century. It is a type of mosaic work, where thin slices of semi-precious stones and coloured marbles are cut to the correct shapes of a design, polished and inlaid into a flat slab of stone or marble.
The surface colour and grain of the marbles and stones are part of the design. The skill of the craftsman lay in the selection of each stone with its specific pattern to create the naturalistic representations of the flowers, foliage, birds and insects. For example the brown marble that makes the tree trunk to the left of the deer has a mottled appearance rather like a real tree trunk. A shaded piece of marble which lightens at the edges has been chosen for the moth's wings. Three dimensional effects have been achieved with the grapes, which are different rather than all being perfect circles of stone, therefore creating the illusion of depth.
The table is supported on ornately carved limestone legs, and the subject may suggest that it was originally made for a hunting lodge or country house.
The top of the table has suffered in the past from being exposed to the elements, and areas have been damaged. The whole surface is now uneven.
Activities
1. Ask your pupils to design their own Pietra Dura table top, thinking about different scenes that could be represented in coloured marbles inlaid into a flat surface.
2. Discuss how the different patterns of the marbles and stones have been used to achieve naturalistic or three dimensional effects in the design.