Intarsia

Intarsia is the technique whereby stones of various shapes and colors are embedded in a marble support that has been hollowed out to receive them. This support remains visible in some places. Possible borders are fixed around the table with iron screws. They were starting from a plate of white marble. It was hollowed out a few millimeters so that the stones forming the elements of the drawing could come to fit in. Parts of the white marble remained visible to delimit the different sections of the table.

The commesso is a mosaic composed of cut stones fixed on a support (generally of slate) that remains invisible. This is a Florentine technique. The model was made by an artist who then chose among the slices cut out of marbles or hard stones those whose shades were best suited to the drawing. When the slices were too thin or had defects, they were doubled with a piece of slate. The slices of stones were then cut to the desired shape with a saw made of a wooden art and a stretched wire. For the commesso , the stones were assembled in a puzzle to make the joints invisible. They were glued together and fixed with a clamp. The glue consisted of rosin and heated beeswax. Then plaster was applied all around and the mosaic was pasted on a slate plate. The plaster was then removed and the surface polished with a stone and then with lead.