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This painted and partly gilt panel reflects the design of a pietre dure relief that was commissioned by Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand-Duke of Tuscany as the centrepiece of a gold frontal (paliotto) for the altar of San Carlo Borromeo in the Cathedral of Milan, in fulfillment of a vow he made to ensure his recovery from illness.
Work on the frontal began in 1617 and was completed in 1624. However, Cosimo died in 1621 and although the altar frontal was completed, it was felt no longer necessary to send it to Milan. It remained in Florence until 1789, when it was dismantled. The gold parts were probably melted down, and by 1791 the central pietre dure relief was reset in its present gilt metal frame and placed in the Galleria now in the Museo degli Argento, Florence.
The original relief was designed by Giovanni Bilivert and made under the supervision of Orazio Mochi, who was responsible for a model of a bassorilievo (low relief). Mochi may well have provided a model for the stonecutters, as his workshop is known to have done so for other commissions. The model has been identified as a hollow-cast cartapesta.
The relief in the Victoria and Albert Museum is one of four cartapesta versions painted in imitation of the original pietre dure relief of Cosimo II before an altar, painted in 1624 by Francesco Bianchi Bonavita (1593-1658).
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