Arnolfo del Cambio, who built the Cathedral of Sta. Maria Fiore in
Florence, being its architect from 1294 till 1310, was the first
in that city to use coloured slabs and panels of marble in a sort
of flat mosaic on a vast scale on the outside of buildings. His
example has been extensively followed throughout Italy. The art
of Pietra Dura mosaic began under Cosimo I. who imported 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 Siriès,
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 the more legitimate purposes of decoration. Some of the
large tables in the Pitti are his work. Flowers and shells on a
porphyry ground were especially characteristic of Siriès. There was
a famous inlayer of tables, long before this time, named Antonio