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October 29, 2008
Annamaria Giusti and Wolfram Koeppe, eds. Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe Exh. cat. New York and New Haven: Metropolitan Museum of Art in association with Yale University Press, 2008. 428 pp.; 272 color ills.; 35 b/w ills. Cloth $65.00 (9780300136722)

Exhibition schedule: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, July 1–September 21, 2008

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CrossRef DOI: 10.3202/caa.reviews.2008.109

Large
Gallerie dei Lavori, Florence. The Barberini Cabinet (ca. 1606–23). Ebony and other exotic woods on oak and poplar, marbles and hardstones. 23 1/4 x 38 1/8 x 14 1/8 in. (59.1 x 96.8 x 35.9 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

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Visitors to the Metropolitan Museum of Art recently had the rare opportunity to see a survey of hardstone carving in Europe, an art form best known by its Italian shorthand term, pietre dure. By assembling some of the best-known works and a great variety of objects in terms of technique, origin, and appearance, the exhibition was well worth seeing, if not always consistent in the strength and coherence of its presentation. The introductory gallery of...