The art of the inlaid floors is very ancient: the Romans imported rare marbles, with exotic provenance and fascinating colors, to achieve what they called opus sectile. The building elements named crustae were shaped and assembled on a bedding layer to draw pictures or geometric motives. During the medieval times, the technique was revitalized by Masters Cosmati, which very often used recycled material from Roman monuments themselves.
The restoration of this type of artwork is not possible without a careful study of sources, a scientific recognition of ancient marbles, a graphic rendering and a photographic documentation of the state in fact, essential for the subsequent operations, which may include disassembly and reassembly of the items.
After the documentation phase, all the flakes and the detachmenting portions are collected, cataloged, cleaned and stored for successive repositioning. Depending on the state of conservation, it can decides to make a complete or partial dismantling, or a consolidation in site. In the first case, you remove all the crustae; the original background is demolished, the base surface cleaned and it is reconstituted bedding layer compatible with techniques, on which to replace the marbles.

In the second case should be made the infiltrations of consolidating product between the joints, cracks and under the praised parts. It proceeds with the in site cleanup usually though wet-pack, from dirt, concretions, over putted layers and removing inserts or stuccos dangerous for the conservation (concrete, synthetic non-stable products).

Missing portions can be reconstructed by utilizing of marble similar to the ancient ones or, if no longer reachable, with the use of ad hoc mortars pigmented. Finally, new stuccos are realized of joints and small holes and it proceeds to the protection of the entire surface with microcrystalline wax, repeated over time as normal maintenance.