Nec Spe, Nec Metu

Margherita Caffi, Still Life of Flowers in Vases on a Stone Ledge, 17th century

Luca Giordano (Fa Presto), Perseus Turning Phineas and His Followers into Stone, early 1680s

Jean-Hugues Taraval, Perseus Turning Phineas and His Followers into Stone, 1767

Paul Liegeois, Plums and Figs in a Basket, with Apricots on a Stone Ledge, a Snail and Button Mushrooms, c. 1660

Jan van Kessel the Elder, Insects on a Stone Slab, c. 1660-70

Jan Baptist van Fornenburgh, Still Life with Tulips, Crocuses, Primroses, and Other Flowers in a Vase on a Stone Plinth with Shells, 17th century

Jacques Stella, The Martyrdom of Saint Stephen, c. 1623

Adam Elsheimer, The Stoning of Saint Stephen, 1603-4

Willem van Aelst, A Still Life with Grapes, Plums, Figs and a Melon on a Partly Draped Stone Ledge, 1653

Giovanni da San Giovanni (Giovanni Mannozzi), Hell, c. 1634

Jacopo Ligozzi, Table of Flowers, 1617-9

Jacques Stella, Jacob’s Ladder, c. 1650, oil on onyx 

The French artist Jacques Stella (1597-1657) may have acquired his taste for painting on precious stones while he lived in Florence (1619-1622/23), Europe’s major center for the manufacturing of semiprecious stones, or pietre dure. Even after his subsequent move to Rome, he acquired notoriety for such compositions as Jacob’s Ladder, a painting that adroitly incorporates the veining of the stone into the artist’s composition.