|
The workshop founded by Ferdinando I de' Medici not only developed the technique of inlaying semiprecious stones on flat surfaces, but also a new method which used the same material to realize relief and free-standing sculpture. The small statuettes of St Mark and St Matthew belonged to a series of four evangelists made for the altar of the Chapel of Princes. The statuettes are composed of various pieces of different colour semiprecious stones, each carved individually and then glued together, with the aid of tiny invisible pins, to form the finished object.
Such sculptural works were based on full-scale wax models.
|
