Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-11-15
9ai1n eagle
FLORENTINE M0SAICS.
INTERESTING PROCESSES BY WHICH
THEY ARE PRODUCED.

Where and Row the Materials Are OBJ
tained--A Royal Monopoly for $50 Years.
In continuation of the description we gave
the other day, from Sir D. E. Colnaghi's re-.
port, we give some interesting facts about
Florentine mosaics-the objects of art" Of
which nearly every visitor brings back some
specimen:
The proper technical term for the so called
Florentine mosaics is works in ''commesso. !"
They are composed Of delicate slices of stones,
carefully cut into shape, arranged and joined
together f'commessi'1 with fine cement,
and then fitted into thin slab of marble.
The pictures are produced by the natural
tints of the stones, the selection of which, to
carry out any given design, demands great
taste and skill
DETAILS OF THE WORE
After the design had been prepared the thin
slices Of stone selected for the various parts
are distributed among certain number OF
workmen, each of whom completes the por-
ton Of the design intrusted to him, the whole
subject being substantially united. The
stones. after being cut into the required
shapes, are carefully set together with CO.
ment made Of wax and mastic t'pece greca'o,
heat being used to bind them together. Slate
is employed to support the work during its
progress, and to line it when complete. At
each stage the first lining affixed to the separ-
ate parts Is ground down, and a fresh one ap-
piled, SO that an even surface may always be
secured When, finally, the complete design
is fitted into the marble slab prepared for its
reception, the whole of the base is again
ground down to perfect plane, and is lined
with fresh backing Of slate. The fitting is
performed with the greatest care, the edges
of the several parts being filed until the exact
dimensions have been attained The whole
surface is afterward polished, so that the
lines of juncture are rendered almost invis-
ible. To bind on the lining heat is used, as
also for uniting the smaller pieces. The opera
ton is very carefully performed, SO that no
more cement than is absolutely required
should remain between the parts that have
been Joined together.
The first operation of saving the stones
into thin slices, from 21S to 3 millimeters in
thickness, is performed by means of thin
blades of iron or copper, emery powder Civ
ing the required friction. The slices are fur
ther sawn into the shapes required TO form
the various parts Of the design by iron or
copper wire attached to bows, and always
with the aid of emery. The finest emery
powder c'poltiglia'1 is used for polishing the
surface of the stones, and emery is employed
for grinding down the Innings For this pur-
pose the work is placed on fixed slab Of
marble or slate iron plates of various sizes
and thickness, according to the dimensions of
the slab, and having wooden handles, being
steadily worked over it by one or two men,
as required
To provide stones for the works in real
''pietre dure," Europe, Asia and the north Of
Africa have been laid under contribution,
and the Royal factory possesses large col
lection Of stones, valued at some 20, 600 lire.
Among the principal stones employed are
amethysts, agates, the sardonyx and chalce-
dony, fiints, many varieties of jasper, peb-
bles from the Arno (which generally contain
a large proportion of lime, and petrified
woods. Among the rocks, which are chiefly
used for works of decoration, are red ORR
entail, Egyptian and other GRANTEES, verde di
Corsica, labradorite, oligoclase Qately intro
ducedl, antique porphyry, green porphyry,
oriental serpentine, jade basalt, silicious
breccia and lapis lazuli. Black marble from
Belgium Is largely used as foundation, and
slate, as has already been mentioned, is en-
ployed as lining for works in ''commesso. VI
4
quiring patience to work them, accounts for
the costliness of works in "pietre dure," of
which IS to so per cent is attributed to
labor.
THE MoSAICIsTS.
The outfit of a mosaicist is very simple.
With a small table, a basin of water, bra
zier, vice, some copper and iron blades to
be used as files, bow strung with iron wire,
1.s%1 fn,,- 81
ready cut into slices, which cost only few
francs, his equipment is complete 1t is not
astonishing, therefore, that, on the industry
being popuarized, it should have been at
tractive, and, at one time, the number of
persons engaged in it was calculated at 1000.
The youths who intend to become mosaicists
are generally members of peasant or artisan
families residing near Florence, and they are
entirely without previous culture. As many
of them never learn to draw, the designs for
the works are made by special draughtsmen.
First rate hands, but their number is limit
ed may earn from five lire to six lire, and
for figure subjects up to ten lire per diem.
For the more delicate work the hours of la
Dor do not exceed eight daily in winter and
ten in summer. The rates of wages are gen.
orally calculated by piece work The earn
homes are very uncertain and do not average
three lire or francs per diem.
Although artists in mosaic had been en-
ployed by Duke Cosmo de Medici in previous
years, the foundation of the royal factory of
''pietre dure" in Florence may, perhaps. be
considered to date from about the year 1874,
when some rooms in the Casino di San Marco
were assigned for the residence of the masters
of the art. The permanent establishment
dates, however, from September, 1888, when
the artists, by order of the Grand Duke Fer
dinand |, were transferred to the Uffizi Here
the factory remained until 1926, in which
year it was removed TO the suppressed con-
vent of s. Niccolo, in the present Via Ricasoli,
where it still exists, though transferred to a
different part of the building, with entrance
on the Via degli Alfani For about two CEN
turtles and half the productionof the Floren-
tine mosaics had remained monopoly of the
royal factory; it was not till 1895 that Signor
Gaetano Bianchini commenced the industrial
application of the art to small articles OF
jewelry and ornaments. The art seems to
have fiourished in Florence from the date OF
its introduction. 1t has been doubted whether
the introduction of the art of working in mo-
sale into Florence, under the patronage Of the
grand duke of the house Of Medici, is due 70
Tuscan or Lombard artists, as Ii would ap-
pear 10 have fourished contemporaneuusly in
both regions. While. however, it has died
out. or nearly so, in Lombardy, IL has sur
vived in Tuscany TO become an important
branch Of Florentlne industry.-Pau Mall
Gazette