G. UGOLINI
Antique Florentine Mosaic Manufactory
established in 1868



in italien

The Florentine Mosaic,with its original name "TARSIA",
has been a high quality antique artisan tradition since the end of the 1500s, when the Florentine family ofDe' Medici,under Cosimo the 1st, improved the "Art of Inlaying with Hard and Semiprecious Stones".
It was Cosimo De' Medici who conceived the monumental work of the Medici Chapels in Florence,fullfilling the subsequent Grand Dukes' wishes according to a project by Vasari. The work is richly composed of hard stones and decorated with refined "Inlaying".

Thanks to the Medici family the

Opificio delle Pietre Dure
was also instituted in Florence ,in 1588, and has been a worldwide reference point ever since for this specific Art .


Private collection of Maria Luisa Antonelli
Work dating back to the end of the 1700s made with hard stones on Egyptian porphyry

The founders of the G.UGOLINI firm of Florence belong to the Artisan Groups that were created to work in the Laboratorio Granducale Fiorentino and which later became independant to develop foreign commissions. The G.UGOLINI firm is the oldest in Florence and was established in the year 1868 ;
the present proprietor is
Mrs Maria Luisa Antonelli, the last great-granddaughter of the Ugolini family.


Photo of the G. UGOLINI firm at the beginning of the century.


Manufacture and finishing.

The G. UGOLINI firm has kept this worldwide unique tradition alive till nowdays making
jewellery, boxes and paintings,
all inn Florentine mosaic according to the original technique of the
"Commesso di Pietre Dure".

This technique enables the artist to utilize tonalities and nuances of the stones on a large chromatic scale:
agate, jasper, shell, quarz, chalcedony, turquoise, malachite, lapislazzuli, gabbro, Arno green, "paesina"
skillfully combining the different pieces with perfectly , invisible joins, to create pictures of flowers, landscapes, people, still-livesonly thanks to the Mosaicist's skilland sensitivity and his deep knowledge of the raw material:
"stone".
The sketch
Drawing of the sketch, made by the artist
Fretworking.
The work executed with the traditional "drill-bow".
The iron wire and the carborundum abrasive powder
and water make it possible to create the fittings
The finished Work
The execution of the mosaic with hard stones
selected according to the artistic sensitivity of the craftsman


Some Works
A reproduction by G.Fattori
carried out by Mario Navarrete.
Giuliano Tacconi:
Drawing and work.


Mosaic Manufactory
Established in 1868
The oldest manufactory of mosaic in Florence
Highest awards at all exhibitions

G. UGOLINI
 Lungarno Acciaioli, 66r-70r
50123 Florence - Italy
tel. +39 55 284969 - +39 55 290742

Firenze Florence
Italy

© Designed by Arthur Trjlsn, 1996