Descrição
The paper discusses a seascape made from hard stones that serves as the top of a table. The estonishing piece was commissed by Ferdiando I de’ Medici in 1601 and was made by the stonecutter Cristofano Gaffuri (d. 1626) after a drawing of Jacopo Ligozzi (1547-1627). It shows the harbor of Livorno from a sea-to-shore vantage point and is made from colored stones of various types and forms, among them agate, chalcedony and lapislazuli. The paper investigates the intrinsic political and territorial claims of Medici power and its dominion of the Tyrrhenian Sea. These claims are emphasized by the representation of lighthouses, cannon and the display of naval power; at the same time, the blue seascape opens up a fluid space that transcends territorial control, by envoking the vastness and dynamism of the sea. It is an uncontrollable space where natural forces are embodied by the large, creamy, blue and golden waves of lapis lazuli. The article investigates the appreciation of stone as part of an early enviromental thinking and at the same time of early globalization, it interprets the object as a kind of cartography of the earth, not only Livorno, but also of a representation of those regions the harbor of Livonro connects to.||ResumenEste trabajo analiza un paisaje marítimo realizado con incrustación de piedras en un tablero de mesa. La sorprendente pieza fue encargada por Fernando I de Medici en 1601 y realizada por el cantero Cristofano Gaffuri (1626), siguiendo unos planos de Jacopo Ligozzi (1547-1627). Muestra en perspectiva el puerto de Livorno visto desde el mar y está compuesta por una serie de piedras de color de distintos tipos y formas; entre ellas el ágata, la calcedonia y el lapislázuli. El artículo investiga las pretensiones políticas y territoriales intrínsecas de los Medici y su dominio sobre el mar Tirreno. Dichas pretensiones quedan manifiestas en la representación de faros y cañones, y en el despliegue del poder naval. Al mismo tiempo, la marina en tonos azules abre un espacio fluido que transciende el control territorial al evocar la amplitud y el dinamismo del mar. Es un espacio incontrolable en el que las fuerzas naturales quedan enmarcadas por las grandes olas cremosas, azules y doradas del lapislázuli. Se analiza también el aprecio de las piedras como parte de una temprana conciencia sobre el medio ambiente y de una idea de globalización, interpretando el objeto como una especie de cartografía de la tierra, no sólo de Livorno, sino también de aquellos lugares con los que conectaba este puerto.The paper discusses a seascape made from hard stones that serves as the top of a table. The estonishing piece was commissed by Ferdiando I de’ Medici in 1601 and was made by the stonecutter Cristofano Gaffuri (d. 1626) after a drawing of Jacopo Ligozzi (1547-1627). It shows the harbor of Livorno from a sea-to-shore vantage point and is made from colored stones of various types and forms, among them agate, chalcedony and lapislazuli. The paper investigates the intrinsic political and territorial claims of Medici power and its dominion of the Tyrrhenian Sea. These claims are emphasized by the representation of lighthouses, cannon and the display of naval power; at the same time, the blue seascape opens up a fluid space that transcends territorial control, by envoking the vastness and dynamism of the sea. It is an uncontrollable space where natural forces are embodied by the large, creamy, blue and golden waves of lapis lazuli. The article investigates the appreciation of stone as part of an early enviromental thinking and at the same time of early globalization, it interprets the object as a kind of cartography of the earth, not only Livorno, but also of a representation of those regions the harbor of Livonro connects to.
