A hardstone panel depicting a fisherman on the Arno, Florence, by Cosimo Castrucci, c.1590-1600 – €230,000 (£205,350) at Lempertz.
In 1592, the Florentine stone carver Cosimo Castrucci (fl.1576-1602) was called to the imperial court in Prague by Rudolph II. A great admirer of stone carving, cameos and the new technique of commesso di pietre dure, the emperor was also, like many of his contemporaries, convinced of the healing properties of gemstones.
According to Anna Maria Giusti’s Pietre Dure and the Art of Florentine Inlay (2006), the stone-cutting workshop Castrucci established operated for perhaps 30 years. His son Giovanni (d.1615) worked there from 1598 (he was made Kammer-Edelsteinschneider, royal jeweller, in 1610), as did fellow Italian lapidary Ottavio Miseroni (1567-1624).