Florence is a city well known for its art and museums, yet many specimens of fantastic beauty are often left unknown to many. overshadowed by the nearby Accademia and the famous sculpture housed there, the opificio delle Pietre Dure (semi-precious stones Workshop) on via Alfani houses a wonderful and priceless museum collection that rivals many of the more well known collections of Florence. the opificio delle Pietre Dure (opd) is also home to a well accredited restoration school that restores various types of art pieces throughout Florence and europe. Brief History the
Medici family is to thank for the creation of the oPD. in 1588, the
Grand Duke Ferdinando I de’ Medici opened the semi-precious stones workshop with artists and craftsmen coming from Milan and Florence. the workshop offered others the opportunity to learn the delicate art of working with mosaics. it also proved to other sovereigns that tuscany had the financial and artistic resources to create the beautiful “stone paintings”. in the late 19th century, the oPD moved from creation to restoration and the
Museum was slowly brought into creation. today the oPD restores many different types of artistic pieces, from tapestry to paintings to sculptures. • tHe MuseuM Small in size, the oPD museum seems to be purposely understated so that the colors of the stonework and paintings can glow as brightly as possible. the museum stands out in its setup as it is not created by any specific art collector or curator’s choice, but rather chronologically as to lead the visitor through the times of the oPD itself. Many of the pieces are actually unfinished, left behind when the project was abandoned. these in particular are still beautiful, as they show how the final piece was put together. the subject of nature is prevalent throughout the museum, bright bursts of colors on slick black backgrounds. it seems proper that the recreation of nature should be created in another element of nature itself. in the upper level of the museum is the exhibit dedicated to the tools and methods of how the craftsmen put together the pieces of art. Here are the wooden tables specially made to work with stones, the heavy tools and a wall lined with a display of hundreds of types of stones, allowing the imagination to put all the pieces together to see how the mosaics were created. if one is unable, a handy display cabinet shows the process step-by-step, from the original design to the final product along with the tools, the stones and the works in progress.
• tHe
scHool The oPD’s School of Higher education is an elite institution dedicated to the restoration of valuable pieces of art. the competition is heavy and difficult, with three tests in design, practical application and art history needing to be passed before one can enter. then one has four years of schooling, taking classes in subjects that range from chemistry to physics to history of art. Students specialize in specific fields, such as textiles or mosaic work, and restore pieces. Being allowed to see the work space of those who work on mosaics, one will be surprised to see a similar wooden table to those that were seen in the upstairs gallery. the same technique is used for the mosaics today as in the days of the Medici. A table scattered with stones such as jasper, agate, lapis and alabaster surround a painting that was being transformed into a mosaic similar to those already hanging in the museum. using a glue made of resin and beeswax, the pieces are carefully cut out and glued together so that each piece comes together without any seam showing. Although only small pieces along the border had been completed, it had taken already 10 months. the final piece will show the beauty not only of this underappreciated art, but of the skill of oPD’s students and the majesty of the craft still practiced there today.
[Susan Glasspool]
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