Table with parrot

This tabletop, made at the beginning of the seventeenth century, comes from villa La Petraia. It resembles a big jigsaw puzzle, where even the black background (apparently made with only one piece of stone) is made by several black Belgian marble sections perfectly matching. The table was made with archaeological marbles retrieved during excavations in Rome and soft stones. It shows a complex composition with naturalistic motifs, such as birds, butterflies and flowers, alternating with military trophies. In the center there is a parrot with a very colorful plumage framed by differently colored flowers, one of the most common and successful subjects of the court workshop.