Designer /
FRANCESCO SCHIAVI — 2023
Marsotto is pleased to present "Solido," a research project dedicated to the contemporary interpretation of the Florentine commesso, also known as "Florentine mosaic": an ancient art that is part of the tradition at the historic Marsotto stone workshop.
This technique spread particularly in Medici Florence at the end of the 16th century and allowed for the creation of highly elegant and effective compositional effects through the inlay of colored marbles and hard stones, similar to paintings. The works created with this technique revealed shades, details, and shadows that could be reproduced with precision as per the preparatory drawing, featuring mainly naturalistic subjects such as flowers, fruits, and animals.
For decades, Vitaliano Marsotto, a refined interpreter of the Florentine commesso, dedicated himself to this art with passion. Starting from watercolor drawings at a 1:1 scale—the models—he identified the precise color tones among large slabs of marble, which he then manually cut with extreme precision into small tesserae. The pieces were subsequently inserted and assembled onto a marble background with such skill that the joints were neither visible nor felt to the touch.
Today, Marsotto chooses to return to the research and practice of this unique and special art, intending to spread the craftsmanship of the ancient stone workshop through a contemporary language that reflects the current time. The idea of Francesco Marsotto, Vitaliano's grandson and a great admirer of his talent, is to look at the Florentine commesso with a fresh and refined spirit, starting from the choice of subjects to be reproduced.
To inaugurate this renewed line of activity, Marsotto has involved Francesco Schiavi in the project of a Florentine commesso painting: a recognized tattoo artist among the most talented in Italy in the Japanese style, Schiavi designed Ryū (dragon) and personally oversaw the creation of the work in all its stages—from the drawing to the selection of marbles, from cutting the stones to the inlay—together with the specialized craftsmen of the company.
The "Solido" project, therefore, arises from the happy encounter between Marsotto and Francesco Schiavi: years ago, Vitaliano introduced Francesco Schiavi to the art of the Florentine commesso, while Francesco presented Vitaliano with precious volumes of Japanese figurative art, which the craftsman—enthusiastic—was inspired by for his last series of stone engravings before his passing.
"Solido" today presents an art that has been successfully passed down: it is an exchange of knowledge between generations, a contamination between two seemingly distant worlds that occurs in the common approach to creative practice, a curious yet very serious approach.
The work features a dragon, an animal that in Japanese culture is a good omen and symbolizes strength and protection. It is a complex design, both in tattoo art and in its transposition into Florentine commesso: Ryū is composed of 2,518 fragments of marble, set into a slab—also of marble—measuring 1.80 x 1 m, with a thickness of 2 cm. It is a long and meticulous job, the result of which sees the marble integrated into the design of the dragon, highlighting the study of the subject and color.
The types of marble used in the creation of the mosaic are five: Nero Dorato for the slab, which also shows quartz inclusions representing lightning; Verde Alpi for the green and white tones of the animal's body; Giallo Siena for the mane, eyes, horns, and claws; Onice Fantastico for the belly, neck, and tail; and Rosso Anatolia for the dragon's tongue and flames.
