Il com(pro)messo fiorentino, or the bottega as a space of negotiations.

The private workshops of Florentine mosaic in Florence 1825-1930s

Abstract

Until 1806, the production of Florentine or « pietra dura » mosaic in Florence –the historical capital of this craft in Europe– was the monopoly of the Grand-Ducal manufacture founded in 1588 by Ferdinando the 1 st of Medici. But when this restriction was lifted, some former employees of the manufacture launched a network of inde- pendent workshops, that would thrive all along the century and still survives today. Deprived of patrons and compelled to be self-sufficient, those private workshops (called botteghe) had to adapt the practice of their craft and the ways to promote it in order to make it cost-effective. The artisans thus resorted to negotiations between what made till then the canons of their art and the requirements of the market they were entering. This paper will address these technical, commercial, and rhetorical choices that infor- med the production of Florentine mosaic in Florence throughout the 19 th century.