An Exquisite 18th Century Irish White Statuary Marble Chimneypiece with Pietra Dura Inlays

A very refined 1780s chimneypiece of good proportions, with a central tablet that celebrates selfless love. It depicts the 'Judgement of Solomon', an episode from the Bible where King Solomon, standing at centre, is ruling between the two women at his sides who are both claiming to be mothers to the child on the right. Solomon offers to cut the child in half, and this compromise is accepted by the first woman, while the other one chooses to safeguard the life of the baby instead and would rather leave the child with the first woman. In the end Solomon orders that the child is given to the second woman.

The cornerblocks are finely carved with urns of flowers. The frieze and jambs are decorated with precious Pietra Dura inlays, shaped in ribbons and bell-flower chain details. Meaning 'hard stone' in Italian, it is a technique that finds its origins during the Roman time, but was fully developed during the Renaissance. It involves the use of semiprecious coloured stones that are cut to shape and fitted to a marble surface to create light and colourful ornamental designs.