A pair of Florentine pietre dure and pietre tenere landscapes panels circa 1700

each displaying a group of figures set on a landscape with buildings, one group playing bocce, the other playing a racket ball game

In very good condition with minimal scratching to surface, bearably noticeable. Within later giltwood frames, with small losses to gilding.
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This interesting pair, of large scale and fine quality, is a very good example of the interest for landscapes in the Grand Ducal pietre dure workshops in the late 17^th century. The local limestone pietre Albarese dell'Arno is here used as ground, with distinctive effects obtained by cuts of stone with natural markings used to resemble vegetation. Plaques in this style were frequently mounted in cabinets and were made in appropriate smaller sizes than the present panels which seem to have been conceived as independent pictorial objects. Depicting traditional ball games, bocce and possibly a variation of pallone col bracciale, these panels reveal amusing and interesting views into Tuscan popular life which certainly attracted the wealthy international visitors passing through the Grand-Ducal city.