CIRCA 1880

Details

AN ITALIAN MICROMOSAIC PLAQUE
CIRCA 1880
The rectangular plaque depicting the interior of St. Peter's Basilica with Bernini's baldachin and high altar, within a spreading Belgian black marble border
17 in. (43.3 cm.) high; 20 1/8 in. (51.5 cm.) wide

Literature

R. Greico, Roman Micromosaic, Rome, 2008, pp. 78, 185.
J. Hanisee Gabriel, Micromosaics Private Collections, 2016, pp. 88-89.

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Giles Forster

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Lot Essay

This remarkable micromosaic depicts the crossing directly beneath the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. The focus point is the large Baroque sculpted bronze canopy, or baldachin, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, beneath which is the high altar of the basilica. In the Gilbert Collection compare similar micromosaic scenes of the interior of St. Peter’s by Biagio Barzotti and Augusto Moglia (J. Hanisee Gabriel, The Gilbert Collection - Micromosaics, London, 2000, No. 61, p. 120 & No. 67, p. 126).

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