The Parrots – Pair of Hardstone Marquetry Panels

Our panels depict parrots grasping fruit among flowering branches. The inverted compositions create the impression that the birds are looking at one another.
Directly inspired by Florentine Renaissance models, these hardstone marquetry plaques are crafted from various veins of precious stones and marbles: cut and polished tesserae of Sicilian jasper, Siena yellow, lapis lazuli, white marble from Rajasthan, and green marble, all set against a black marble background, form the compositions.

The plaques are set within reverse-profile frames in gilded wood, with faux-marble decoration in the centers.
Dimensions: 44 × 33 cm – 70 × 55 cm including the frame

Known for more than two thousand years among the Romans, in Persia, the Middle East, and as far as India, hardstone marquetry adorned the palaces of the greatest art lovers and statesmen around the world. But it was in Florence that the technique reached its apogee in the 16th century, thanks to the impetus of Ferdinand I de’ Medici, who founded the Opificio delle Pietre Dure (the workshop of hardstone marquetry) of the Medici family.