Certosina

Certosina patterns around the larger carved bone panels in a casket by the Embriachi workshop

Certosina is a decorative art technique of inlaying used widely in the Italian Renaissance period. Similar to marquetry, it uses small pieces of wood, bone, ivory, metal, or mother-of-pearl to create inlaid geometric patterns on a wood base.[1] The term comes from Carthusian monasteries (Certosa in Italian, Charterhouse in English),[2] probably the Certosa di Pavia, where the technique was used in ornamenting an altarpiece by the Embriachi workshop.[3]

  1. ^ Cabinet frontal with panels from two Embriachi caskets, ca. 1400–1409, Metropolitan Museum]
  2. ^ Lucie-Smith, Edward, The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Art Terms, pp. 51-52, 2003 (2nd edn), Thames & Hudson, World of Art series, ISBN 0500203652
  3. ^ Bruil & Brandsma, "Bride's casket, attributed to the Embriachi workshop"