L'Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Unified Italy

Galleria d'arte moderna, Palazzo Pitti, Florence

17 May - 11 September, 2011

The Esposizione Nazionale of 1861, which was held in Florence in celebration of the very recent Unification of Italy, witnessed the participation of the former grand-ducal manufactory that shortly thereafter would change name to become Opificio delle Pietre Dure. Renowned throughout Europe, and in the exclusive service of the court since its foundation in 1588, the aristocratic manufactory took part in the event with its usual magnificence, presenting both old and modern works of semiprecious stone inlay, perhaps also convinced that it could successfully perpetuate this magnificence even as a State institution, and with the obligation of funding itself through sales to the public. What would prove to be an illusion, though, was confirmed by the flattering comments received on this occasion: "How long could it possibly have taken to create this composition that reproduces an entire Spring in a marble table?".
And a perennially blossoming spring it was indeed that radiantly developed in the mosaics of the Opificio then and in the years that followed, reviving the naturalism that had shown in the mosaics of the Medici period and, at the same time, satisfying the floral passion that at the time dominated the decorative arts throughout Europe.
This conclusive and seductive activity of the Opificio is for the first time the object of an exhibition, curated by Annamaria Giusti who has also edited the catalogue published by Sillabe, and hosted in the Galleria d'arte moderna di Palazzo Pitti from May 17 to September 11. Following an introductory section featuring an anthology of Medici and Lorraine creations, which serve as premise to the style of nineteenth-century creations, the exhibition presents the production of the post-Unification period which continued to excel for precious materials and technical mastery, inalienable patrimony of the old Florentine "commesso". Wall panels, tables, boxes, and sculptures in semiprecious stones, and pieces of furniture are fascinating for the pictorial splendour of rare stones, and for the refined decorative inventions, in several cases reaching exorbitant levels in terms of importance and cost, in the search to satisfy the demands and pocketbooks of a bourgeois clientele.
Eloquent testimonies in the exhibition include showpieces like the Door for a Cupboard, fit for a piece of regal furniture, in which the sixteenth-century theme of a large vase with a floral triumph, relives in a riot of colours, obtained from an enamelled palette of the rarest stones. Other pieces that remained without buyers included the Indoor Flower Box, so captivating in its figured subjects inspired by the taste of the tranche de vie (slice of life) of Macchiaioli painting, and the exquisite Table of the Magnolias with its wreath of convolvuli and magnolias lining the edge, languidly suggests the Art Nouveau.
The exhibition is also the opportunity for an inedited anthological review of the private Florentine workshops that operated in the wake of the Opificio, often reproducing its models employing less valuable materials, and meeting with a widespread public success, also due to their more moderate costs. An entire section of the show is dedicated to the Savoia who stimulated this exquisitely Florentine activity, as attested by the furnishings that in the years when Florence was the capital of Italy found their way to the Palazzo Pitti, as well as to the palace in Lisbon, as of 1862 ruled by Maria Pia di Savoia.
What does the future reserve an Opificio devoted to a tradition that no longer permits it to survive? As of the end of the century, a radical reconversion began to converge artificers and technical resources for the Opificio's nascent activity of restoring the national art heritage, which opened the way to what would become the still vital Opificio delle Pietre Dure.
The exhibition closes with this noble farewell to the past without neglecting, however, the recent testimonies of a continuing manual skill, as precious as the materials employed, and that the Opificio has succeeded in safeguarding up to the present, in hope that it may continue in the future.
The exhibition is promoted by the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali through the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Artistici e Storici ed Etnoantropologici, Polo Museale della città di Firenze, the Galleria d'arte moderna, Firenze Musei and the Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze.