LATE 18TH©ARLY 19TH CENTURY, NOW MOUNTED IN LATER WHITE MARBLE PEDESTALS

These finely inlaid micromosaic pedestals, which may have originally formed the uprights of a fireplace, are inlaid in the antique manner with classical urns, tripods, birds and foliage in the 'grotesque' style revived by Raphael in his decoration of the Stanze in the Vatican. They relate to the work of the celebrate mosaicist Giacomo Raffaelli (1753-1836), whoose oeuvre is characterized by remarkably naturalistic depictions of birds and foliage of 'antique' inspiration. Patronized by Pope Pius VI (1775-1779) and King Stanislaus-August Poniatowski of Poland, Raffaelli was an energetic self-promoter who was happy to undertake ambitious, large-scale projects. His production certainly included fireplaces, as a 'mosaic chimneypiece' is mentioned in the inventory of his stock when his workshop was transferred from Milan in 1804, while he is known to have exhibited what must have been a spectacular fireplace at the Liceo Brera, Milan (circa 1804-9), known only through a contemporary description, with uprights in micromosaic with 'plant tendrils, flowers, fruit and birds', which may have been very similar to the micromosaic panels offered here (see M. Alfieri,'New Notes on Giacomo Raffaelli and Michelangelo Barbieri', The Gilbert Collection : Micromosaics, London, 2000, pp. 263-8).