Pietra dura chest
by PANDOLFINI, Giuliano di Pietro, Commessi di pietre dure, garnets, gilt bronze and ebony, 56 x 88 x 49 cm
Giuliano di Pietro Pandolfini was the Giovanni Castrucci’s son-in-law. Giovanni was the son of Cosimo Castrucci who, invited by Emperor Rudolf II, established the workshop for commesso di pietre dure (Florentine mosaic) in Prague in. 1592. After the death of Cosimo, Giovanni took over the workshop which was dissolved in c. 1624. Giuliano di Pietro Pandolfini was the master craftsman of the last years of the workshop.
The ceremonial chest was made for Karl I von Liechtenstein whose coat-of-arms and monogram can be seen on the front.