Pietre dure panels
The Florentine craft of pictorial stone inlay — birds, florals and heraldic compositions in lapis lazuli, malachite and jasper. Waterjet roughing, then each piece fitted by hand at the bench to a 0.8mm joint.
Begin a commission →Pietre dure is painting with stone. Every feather and petal is a separate piece of hardstone, chosen for the vein that will read as shadow or plumage, cut roughly on the waterjet and closed by hand at the bench. A single panel can hold several thousand pieces.
Panels are assembled on backing boards in the atelier, photographed section by section for approval, and shipped framed and crated. Installed, the surface reads as a painting that happens to be stone.
Numbers that matter
Lapis lazuli, malachite, jasper, agate, marbles chosen for veining
Full-size cartoon, waterjet roughing, hand-fitting at the bench
0.8mm target, closed by hand
10–16 weeks from approved cartoon
Recent work in this product
Asked about pietre dure panels
The stones are among the hardest used in architecture. Fitted to a stable backing and sealed, panels outlast the buildings they hang in.
Yes — paintings, illustrations and heraldry all translate. We advise where simplification serves the stone.
Panels are built to any architectural dimension; very large compositions are made as framed sections that join invisibly.