UNKNOWN MASTER, Italian
(active c. 1650 in Florence)

Vase of Flowers

c. 1650
Hard stone inlay relief, 24 x 19 cm
Museo dell'Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence

The Grand Ducal Workshop frequently resorted to relief carving for its semiprecious stone inlays, as in this piece representing a double-handed vase of flowers. The subjects chosen for this type of mosaic were the same already commonly used for similar two-dimensional inlays.

This small panel was probably originally a door of a cabinet whose exterior was lavishly covered with semiprecious stones.