scagliola
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Scagliola (from the
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
''scaglia'', meaning "chips") is a type of fine plaster used in
architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
and
sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
. The same term identifies the technique for producing columns, sculptures, and other architectural elements that resemble
inlay Inlay covers a range of techniques in sculpture and the decorative arts for inserting pieces of contrasting, often colored materials into depressions in a base object to form Ornament (art), ornament or pictures that normally are flush with th ...
s in
marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...
. The scagliola technique came into fashion in 17th-century Tuscany as an effective substitute for costly marble inlays, the
pietra dura ''Pietra dura'' () or ''pietre dure'' () ( see below), called parchin kari or parchinkari ( fa, ) in the Indian Subcontinent, is a term for the inlay technique of using cut and fitted, highly polished colored stones to create images. It is c ...
works created for the
Medici family The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Muge ...
in
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
. The use of scagliola declined in the 20th century. Scagliola is a composite substance made from
selenite Selenite may refer to: Substances containing selenium *A selenium-containing anion or ionic compound with the SeO32− anion: **Selenite (ion), anion is a selenium oxoanion with the chemical formula SeO32− ***Selenous acid, the conjugate acid, w ...
,
glue Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers certain advant ...
and natural pigments, imitating marble and other hard stones. The material may be veined with colors and applied to a core, or desired pattern may be carved into a previously prepared scagliola matrix. The pattern's indentations are then filled with the colored, plaster-like scagliola composite, and then polished with
flax oil Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil (in its edible form), is a colourless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant (''Linum usitatissimum''). The oil is obtained by pressing, sometimes followed by ...
for brightness, and wax for protection. The combination of materials and technique provides a complex texture, and richness of color not available in natural veined marbles. A comparable material is
terrazzo Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical bindi ...
. Marmorino is a synonym, but scagliola and terrazzo should not be confused with
plaster of Paris Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...
, which is one ingredient.


Method

Batches of pigmented plaster (ground
alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that includes ...
or
gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywall. ...
) modified with
animal glue Animal glue is an adhesive that is created by prolonged boiling of animal connective tissue in a process called rendering. In addition to being used as an adhesive it is used for coating and sizing, in decorative composition ornaments, and as a ...
are applied to molds, armatures and pre-plastered wall planes in a manner that accurately mimics natural stone,
breccia Breccia () is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or rocks cemented together by a fine-grained matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language, in which it means "rubble". A breccia may have a variety of di ...
and marble. In one technique, veining is created by drawing strands of raw
silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...
saturated in pigment through the plaster mix. Another technique involves
trowel A trowel is a small hand tool used for digging, applying, smoothing, or moving small amounts of viscous or particulate material. Common varieties include the masonry trowel, garden trowel, and float trowel. A power trowel is a much larger gas ...
ling on several layers of translucent renders and randomly cutting back to a previous layer to achieve colour differential similar to
jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...
. When dry, the damp surface was
pumice Pumice (), called pumicite in its powdered or dust form, is a volcanic rock that consists of highly vesicular rough-textured volcanic glass, which may or may not contain crystals. It is typically light-colored. Scoria is another vesicular vol ...
d smooth, then buffed with a linen cloth impregnated with Tripoli (a siliceous
rottenstone Rotten stone, sometimes spelled as rottenstone, also known as tripoli, is fine powdered porous rock used as a polishing abrasive for metalsmithing and in woodworking. It is usually weathered limestone mixed with diatomaceous, amorphous, or cryst ...
) and charcoal; finally it was buffed with oiled felt;
beeswax Beeswax (''cera alba'') is a natural wax produced by honey bees of the genus ''Apis''. The wax is formed into scales by eight wax-producing glands in the abdominal segments of worker bees, which discard it in or at the hive. The hive workers ...
was sometimes used for this purpose. Because the colours are integral to the plaster, the pattern is more resistant to scratching than with other techniques, such as
paint Paint is any pigmented liquid, liquefiable, or solid mastic composition that, after application to a substrate in a thin layer, converts to a solid film. It is most commonly used to protect, color, or provide texture. Paint can be made in many ...
ing on
wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...
. There are two scagliola techniques: in traditional 'Bavarian scagliola' coloured batches of
plaster of Paris Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...
are worked to a stiff, dough-like consistency. The plaster is modified with the addition of animal glues such as
isinglass Isinglass () is a substance obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish. It is a form of collagen used mainly for the clarification or fining of some beer and wine. It can also be cooked into a paste for specialised gluing purposes. The E ...
or hide glue. 'Marezzo scagliola' is worked with the pigmented batches of plaster in a liquid state and relies mainly on the use of Keene's cement, a unique gypsum plaster product in which plaster of Paris was steeped in alum or borate, then burned in a kiln and ground to a fine powder; invented around 1840, it sets to an exceptionally hard state. It is typically used without the addition of animal glues. Marezzo scagliola is often called American scagliola because of its widespread use in the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Slabs of Marezzo scagliola may be used as table tops. When set, scagliola is hard enough to be turned on a lathe to form vases,
baluster A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its cons ...
s and finials.


History

While there is evidence of scagliola decoration in
ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
architecture, scagliola decoration became popular in
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
buildings in the 17th century, and was imitated throughout
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
until the 19th century. Superb altar frontals using this technique are to be found at the
Certosa di Padula Padula Charterhouse, in Italian Certosa di Padula (or ''Certosa di San Lorenzo di Padula''), is a large Carthusian monastery, or charterhouse, located in the town of Padula, in the Cilento National Park, in Southern Italy. It is a World Herita ...
in the Campania, Southern Italy. An early use of scagliola in England is in a fireplace at
Ham House Ham House is a 17th-century house set in formal gardens on the bank of the River Thames in Ham, south of Richmond in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The original house was completed in 1610 by Thomas Vavasour, an Elizabethan cou ...
, Surrey, which was brought from Italy along with the window sill in the reign of Charles II. This employs the use of a scagliola background which was then cut into to lay in the design. In 1761, a scagliolista, Domenico Bartoli, from Livorno arrived in London and was employed by William Constable of Burton Constable in Yorkshire. Here he produced two chimneypieces in white marble inlaid with the scagliola embellishments directly into cut matrices in the marble. Apart from the protective edges of altars at Padula this seems to be the first use of this technique. In 1766 he went into partnership with Johannes Richter, possibly from Dresden, who may have brought a young Pietro Bossi with him. The name Bossi is associated with a family of Northern Italian scagliolisti. Bartoli supplied table tops to Ireland and one chimneypiece at Belvedere House in Dublin could be attributed to Richter. Their styles are very different. There is little evidence that either of them came to Ireland. Pietro Bossi arrived in Dublin in 1784 and probably died there in 1798. He produced a number of chimneypieces in Dublin of very good quality. Scagliola inlay proved to be desirable in Ireland and there appears to be a continuation long after it became unfashionable in England. In 1911, Herbert Cescinsky, in ''English Furniture'' remarked that scagliola had been popular in Dublin fifty years before. This would explain one at 86, Stephen's Green, clearly an 18th. Century chimneypiece, which has been later embellished in the mid 19th. Century for Crofton Vanderleur, formerly at 4, Parnell Square. A later firm, Sharpe & Emery, Pearce St., Dublin produce a number of examples in the neo-classical Bossi style, sometimes using original chimneypieces. The correspondence between
British Resident A resident minister, or resident for short, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of indir ...
in Florence Sir Horace Mann and
Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...
describes the process of obtaining a prized scagliola table top. Having received his first top from the Irishman Friar Ferdinando Henrico Hugford (1695–1771) around 1740 Walpole had asked his friend Mann to acquire some more... (one of these tables is at
The Vyne The Vyne is a Grade I listed building, Grade I listed 16th-century country house in the parish of Sherborne St John, near Basingstoke, in Hampshire, England. The house was first built ''circa'' 1500-10 in the Tudor style by William Sandys, 1st ...
. That table has the arms of Walpole (with his post 1726 Garter Knight embellishments) impaling Shorter - for Prime Minister Sir
Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader ...
and his first wife Catherine Shorter, who died 20 August 1737. He married Maria Skerret in early 1738, thus The Vyne's table could seem have been ordered before c1736-37). In a letter dated 26 November 1741 Mann writes to Walpole:
Your scagliola table was near finished when behold the stone on which the stuff is put, opened of itself so that all that was done, to his ugford'sgreat mortification is spoilt. He would have been off for beginning again on account of his eyes etc., but I have begged he will do it and he is about it
and on 15 July 1742:
Your scagliola table is almost finished (you remember the first he ugfordundertook broke when near done) and is very handsome, but even in this commission my success is not complete, for I cannot persuade the padre ugfordto make its companion
and on 30 October 1742:
Your scagliola table is finished, though I have not got it home. The nasty priest ugfordwill have 25 zecchins 12 10sbesides many thanks, for the preference given to me, for some simple English have been tampering with him and offered 30 to get it, though it is by no means such a fine performance. The priest wishes I would not take it, as he would make a present of it to the Pope. He leaves Florence for good
and on 11 July 1747:
You bid me get you two scagliola tables, but don't mention the size or any other particulars. The man who made yours is no longer in Florence. Here is a scholar of his on Pietro Belloni? but vastly inferior to him, and so slow in working that he has been almost three years about a pair for a Mr Leson oseph Leeson and requires still six months more. I will endeavour to get somebody to write to the first friar ugfordand to engage him to make two tables in his convent and send them to Florence, of which I hope to be able to give you an account by next post.
and on 10 October 1749:
I am glad your scagliola tables please. You must make the greater account of them, as it is impossible to get any more of the same man ugford nor indeed of his disciple here elloni who is a priest too, and has been four years about a pair I bespoke of him, which he tells me plainly he cannot finish in less than two more. They work for diversion and won't be hurried.
In modern times—Tusmore House, Oxfordshire:
The great triumph of the saloon, however, is the use of scagliola, including the richly coloured and figured Sienna shafts of the eight fluted Corinthian columns...and the urns, entablature and balustrade to the second-floor landing which gives access to four plaster-vaulted ante rooms serving the main bedrooms. All this scagliola was produced by Richard Feroze, England's leading contemporary scagliola-maker.
Italian plasterworkers produced scagliola columns and pilasters for
Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his o ...
at
Syon House Syon House is the west London residence of the Duke of Northumberland. A Grade I listed building, it lies within the 200-acre (80 hectare) Syon Park, in the London Borough of Hounslow. The family's traditional central London residence had be ...
(notably the columns in the Anteroom) and at
Kedleston Hall Kedleston Hall is a neo-classical manor house, and seat of the :Curzon family, Curzon family, located in Kedleston, Derbyshire, approximately 4 miles (6 km) north-west of Derby. The medieval village of Kedleston was moved in 1759 by Nathanie ...
(notably the pilasters in the Saloon). In 1816 the Coade Ornamental Stone Manufactory extended their practice to include scagliola; their scagliola was used by
Benjamin Dean Wyatt Benjamin Dean Wyatt (1775–1852) was an English architect, part of the Wyatt family. Early life He was the son and pupil of the architect James Wyatt, and the brother of Matthew Cotes Wyatt. Before setting up as an architect in 1809, he joine ...
at
Apsley House Apsley House is the London townhouse of the Dukes of Wellington. It stands alone at Hyde Park Corner, on the south-east corner of Hyde Park, facing south towards the busy traffic roundabout in the centre of which stands the Wellington Arch. It i ...
, London. In the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
scagliola was popular in the 19th and 20th centuries. Important US buildings featuring scagliola include the
Mississippi State Capitol The Mississippi State Capitol or the “New Capitol,” has been the seat of the state’s government since it succeeded the old statehouse in 1903. Located in Jackson, it was designated as a Mississippi Landmark in 1986, a National Historic La ...
in Jackson, Mississippi (1903), Allen County Courthouse in
Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...
,
Belcourt Castle Belcourt is a former summer cottage designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt for Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont and located on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island. Construction was begun in 1891 and completed in 1894, and it was intended to b ...
in
Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...
, in the old El Paso County Courthouse (Colorado) in
Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
, in the
Kansas State Capitol The Kansas State Capitol, known also as the Kansas Statehouse, is the building housing the executive and legislative branches of government for the U.S. state of Kansas. Located in the city of Topeka, which has served as the capital of Kansas sin ...
in
Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa language, Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the Capital (political), capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the County seat, seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the ...
, in
Shea's Performing Arts Center Shea's Performing Arts Center (originally Shea's Buffalo) is a theater for touring Broadway musicals and special events in Buffalo, New York. Originally called Shea's Buffalo, it was opened in 1926 to show silent movies. It took one year to bu ...
in
Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
, and in the Navarro County Courthouse in Corsicana, TX.
St. Louis Union Station St. Louis Union Station is a National Historic Landmark train station in St. Louis, Missouri. At its 1894 opening, the station was the largest in the world that had tracks and passenger service areas all on one level. Traffic peaked at 100,000 ...
in St. Louis, Missouri, prominently features scagliola in its magnificent Grand Hall, the
Rialto Square Theatre The Rialto Square Theatre is a theater in Joliet, Illinois ( U.S.). Opening in 1926, it was originally designed and operated as a vaudeville movie palace, but it now houses mainly musicals, plays, concerts, and standup comedy. It is also available ...
, Joliet, IL,
Cathedral of St. Helena The Cathedral of Saint Helena is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena, Montana. Modeled by architect A.O. Von Herbulis after the Votivkirche in Vienna, Austria, the construction began on the cathedral in 1908, and held its first ...
in Helena, MT, Congregation Shearith Israel in New York City, Milwaukee Public Library Central Library in Milwaukee, WI and the
French Lick Resort Casino French Lick Resort is a resort complex in the Midwestern United States, located in the towns of West Baden Springs and French Lick, Indiana. The complex includes two historic resort spa hotels, stables, a casino, and three golf courses that a ...
, French Lick, IN which recently underwent a major restoration. Scagliola has historically been considered an ''
Ersatz An ersatz good () is a substitute good, especially one that is considered inferior to the good it replaces. It has particular connotations of wartime usage. Etymology ''Ersatz'' is a German word literally meaning ''substitute'' or ''replacement ...
'' material and an inexpensive alternative to natural stone. However, it has eventually come to be recognised as an exceptional example of the plasterer's craft and is now prized for its historic value as well as being used in new construction because of its benefits as a plastic material suited to molding in ornate shapes. Scagliola columns are not generally built of the solid material. Instead scagliola is trowelled onto a canvas which is wrapped around the column's core, and the canvas peeled away when semi-hardened. The scagliola is then surfaced in place. The
verd antique Verd antique (obsolete French, from Italian, ''verde antico'', "ancient green"), also called verde antique, ''marmor thessalicum'', or Ophite, is a serpentinite breccia popular since ancient times as a decorative facing stone. It is a dark, dull ...
columns and pilasters in the Anteroom at Syon House are made out of marble not scagliola as it is widely perceived (a beautiful and rare, predominantly green marble that was quarried in Larissa of Greece since antiquity). These columns are not solid. Round sections of marble were painstakingly cut as a veneer of an approximate thickness of 5–6 mm and then glued onto a column core that is hollow and was probably made out of plaster. On closer inspection the viewer can see the joints of the various sections. The discerning eye will soon realise that they are looking at verd antique veneered marble and not verd antique scagliola. The 3.6 metre high verd antique scagliola columns that can be seen at Dropmore House, Buckinghamshire, are based on the colours and design of this historical work at Syon House. Both research and execution of these new columns were undertaken recently by the contemporary scagliolist Michael Koumbouzis.


Gallery

File:Vierzehnheiligen-Basilika3-Asiocroped.jpg, Scagliola in the Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers near Bad Staffelstein, Germany File:Kempten St. Lorenz - Chorgestühl 05.jpg, Scagliola in the St. Lorenz Basilica in
Kempten im Allgäu Kempten (, (Swabian German: )) is the largest town of Allgäu, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. The population was about 68,000 in 2016. The area was possibly settled originally by Celts, but was later taken over by the Romans, who called the town '' ...
, Germany File:Cappella di sant'aquilino, scarsella, altare in scagliola.jpg, Scagliola altar in the Cappella di Sant'Aquilino, Milan, Italy


See also

*
Polished plaster Polished plaster is a term for the finish of some plasters and for the description of new and updated forms of traditional Italian plaster finishes. The term covers a whole range of decorative plaster finishes, from the very highly polished Venetian ...
* Coade stone


References

* John Fleming, "The Hugfords of Florence", ''The Connoisseur'', 1955, cxxxvi. 109. * Conor O'Neill, In Search of Bossi, ''The Journal of the Irish Georgian Society'', Vol. I, 1998, pp. 146–175 * A. M. Massinelli, ''Scagliola. L'arte della pietra di luna' :it:Bianco Bianchi (artigiano), Roma, 1997 * R. de Salis, ''Fane-Stanhope scagliola'', London, 2008. * Donald Cameron, Scagliola Inlay Work: the problems of attribution, ''The Journal of the Irish Georgian Society'', Vol. VII, 2004, pp. 140 – 155 * Patrick Pilkington: The Chimneypiece in Ireland in the 18th. Century, ''Ireland's Antiques & Period Properties'', Vol. 5, no.2, 2008-9'' pp. 78–82.


Notes

{{Authority control Architecture Building materials Craft materials Plastering Wallcoverings Italian inventions