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Lot Essay
The Roman gem-carver Nicola Morelli became member of the Academy of San Luca in 1812. Cameos by his hands are to be found in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, in the Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe, in the Staatliche Münzsammlung, Munich, in the Museo Napoleonico, Rome, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and in the British Museum. For more information on this artist, see L. Pirzio Biroli Stefanelli, 'Nicola Morelli incisore in pietre dure, Accademico di merito di S. Luca, virtuoso del pantheon', Bolletino dei Musei comunali di Roma, nuova serie, VI, 1992, pp. 65-76.
Elisa Bonaparte, Emperor Napoleon's eldest sister, married Felice Bacciocchi in 1797. She was styled a Princesse Française and Imperial Highness in 1804 and became Duchess of Lucca and Piombino in 1805. She managed the economy of her small state so profitably that in 1809, Napoleon assigned her to Tuscany, where she revived the court glories of the Medicis, including the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, the Grand Ducal Hardstone Workshops. After Napoleon's fall, Elisa called herself Countess of Compignano.
Elisa Bonaparte, Emperor Napoleon's eldest sister, married Felice Bacciocchi in 1797. She was styled a Princesse Française and Imperial Highness in 1804 and became Duchess of Lucca and Piombino in 1805. She managed the economy of her small state so profitably that in 1809, Napoleon assigned her to Tuscany, where she revived the court glories of the Medicis, including the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, the Grand Ducal Hardstone Workshops. After Napoleon's fall, Elisa called herself Countess of Compignano.