Painting of the Month

'The Ambassadors': Cosmati Work

Inlaid pieces of coloured stones make up the floor in the painting. This is known as 'Cosmati work', after the Italian family who made it their speciality. Most Cosmati work was found in Rome where ancient Roman remains, such as columns, were re-cycled and used for the patterned inlays.

Jean de Dinteville saw a Cosmati floor in England in the sanctuary of Westminster Abbey when he attended the coronation of Anne Boleyn, the new wife of Henry VIII, on 1 June 1533. The circular patterns in the Abbey floor represented heaven and earth. Holbein's similar design may be intended to echo the division of the objects on the shelves into heavenly and earthly realms. Or de Dinteville may simply have liked the rich pattern, as fashionable tiled floors were laid later at his château of Polisy, where the painting was displayed.


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