faux marble inlay work

faux pietra dura and trompe l'oeil lions head

This painting of a relief carved lions head in statuary Carrara marble is set in a panel of faux marble pietra dura. The faux marbles are from the outside; Rhodochrosite, Lapis Lazuli, counter-pass cut Breche Violet and Old Convent Sienna.
Pietra Dura translates literally from Italian as hard stones. Generally this technique uses semiprecious stones and is reserved for table tops, altar frontals and wall inlays. This form of decoration is sometimes referred to as Florentine Mosaic after the workshops of Florence which produced the best work of this type in the 17th and 18th centuries. Although expensive to undertake it is not uncommon to see examples of faux marbling pietra dura and marbleized inlay work, it achieves good effect on dados and as feature elements in larger schemes.