Storia Della Veneziana

The sown or terrazzo may 'call himself a descendant of the floor "opus signinum"
that, characterized by a lack of design, consisted of river pebbles arranged randomly and cemented with lime or clay.
In Italy, in ancient times, it was made with a mixture of earthenware and lime in which you placed pebbles in shavings or small pieces of marble.
Typical examples dating from the first century, are located in Aquileia. Venice, more than other cities,
He remained faithful to these techniques kept alive even in areas of Friuli.
Subsequently the floor evolves, following the tastes of the eras
but essentially it is remaining true to the ancient tradition.

Andrea Palladio in the first volume of "The Four Books of Architecture" cites the Venetian cocciopesto terraces, fine gravel, etc. ...
performed with defined techniques that are now part of the architectural culture of the Treaties.
The first detailed illustration of a deck was published in 1590.
However, it remains always valid the concept that is the manual experience the main factor of the beauty of a floor.
So there is a project in the literal sense, but rather the hand of the installer who chooses
the marble chips of different sizes and colors, combining them with each other.

In the seventeenth century, and even more, in the eighteenth century, this floor is spread with the name of Venetian
in prestigious environments up to Milan and Bologna.
Aesthetically, the floor tends increasingly to impreziosirsi with drawings, hemming, Photo insertions of marble, but the technique and spirit of the Venetian remain unaffected.

The merit of having given new life to the ornamental paving, direct descendant of the floor mosaic of Greek descent, it is for Friuli craftsmen.
They were to bring this technique to Venice where the craft was developed and was introduced between the art associations in 1586.
The traditional lime binder is: is the key ingredient execution of wrought terrace. It is slaked lime, i.e. calcium hydroxide Ca (OH) 2.
Quest'antichissimo binder is by baking at 800 ° degrees C (calcination) Pebble River and the subsequent addition of water. The elasticity is good and the results are proof.
The use of lime makes it possible to pave large surfaces without expansion joints (eg. Great Council Hall of the Doge's Palace is 1,200 square meters) and to place on the surface of various types of decorations, also very complex bands and designs.
With a maintenance-based linseed oil and any imperfections appropriate, these floors have excellently stood the test of time through the centuries.
The drawback of the lime is the slowness with which it is taken, and then the forced need for very long construction times. Hence the natural evolution towards other binders which would enable to shorten the processing steps.