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Lot Essay
This spectacular table is one of the richest known examples by Michelangelo Barberi, one of the most celebrated mosaicists active in Rome in the second quarter of the 19th century, to appear on the auction market.
In his 1856 book Alcuni Musaici usciti dallo Studio del Cav. Michel'Angelo Barberi, Barberi refers to the present model as "Chronological Rome". A number of other examples were produced, and they can be dated based on the pope depicted (discussed in J. Gabriel, The Gilbert Collection, Micromosaics, London, 2000, pp. 84 - 85). An example retained by the Hermitage includes a portrait of Pius IX (1846 - 1847), and two earlier examples, along with the present example, show Gregory XVI (1831 - 1846). One of the latter, mounted on a giltwood base, was commissioned by William Ward, second Earl of Dudley, and is now part of the Gilbert Collection. Another was commissioned by Baron Broderick, sixth Viscount Midleton (d. 1863), which may be the table offered here (J. Gabriel, op. cit., no 31).
Of particular interest in the present design is the enchanting vision of the Coliseum bathed in moonlight. This romantic view of Rome at night would have had a particular attraction to 19th Century tourists (A. Gonzales-Palacios, S. Röttgen et al., The Art of Mosaics, Selections from the Gilbert Collection, 1982, p. 191). Related nighttime views were memorialized on another table by Barberi, and several smaller plaques (D. Petochi, I Mosaici Minuti Romani dei secoli XVIII e XIX, Rome, 1981, p. 191 and 195, fig. 13 and 14).
Even in his own time, Cavalieri Michelangelo Barberi (d. 1867) was perhaps the most celebrated of Roman artisans (A. Gonzales-Palacios, S. Röttgen et al., op. cit. p. 168). Son of architect Camillo Barberi (d. 1809), and the brother of two painters, the family at one time lived in Paris where they resided with the Piranesi family, before returning to Rome before 1820, thus exposing Barberi to a taste for teh 'antique' so forcefully displayed by this table.
Barberi eventually left Rome for Moscow where he received commissions from Princess Volkonski, later opening his Roman workshop under her patronage. On a subsequent return journey to Russia, he was received by Tsar Nicholas I who asked him to assist in setting up a school of micromosaic artists based on that in the Vatican (A. Gabino et al., Roman Mosaic: l'Arte del Micromosaico fra '700 e '800, Rome, 2001, p. 186).
In 1851, Barberi participated in the Crystal Palace Great Exhibition where he received the only gold medal awarded to the Papal state for his mosaic table The Beautiful Sky of Italy (A. Gonzales-Palacios, S. Röttgen et al., op. cit, 1982, p. 282), an example of a composition he had already executed for the Tsar.
In his 1856 book Alcuni Musaici usciti dallo Studio del Cav. Michel'Angelo Barberi, Barberi refers to the present model as "Chronological Rome". A number of other examples were produced, and they can be dated based on the pope depicted (discussed in J. Gabriel, The Gilbert Collection, Micromosaics, London, 2000, pp. 84 - 85). An example retained by the Hermitage includes a portrait of Pius IX (1846 - 1847), and two earlier examples, along with the present example, show Gregory XVI (1831 - 1846). One of the latter, mounted on a giltwood base, was commissioned by William Ward, second Earl of Dudley, and is now part of the Gilbert Collection. Another was commissioned by Baron Broderick, sixth Viscount Midleton (d. 1863), which may be the table offered here (J. Gabriel, op. cit., no 31).
Of particular interest in the present design is the enchanting vision of the Coliseum bathed in moonlight. This romantic view of Rome at night would have had a particular attraction to 19th Century tourists (A. Gonzales-Palacios, S. Röttgen et al., The Art of Mosaics, Selections from the Gilbert Collection, 1982, p. 191). Related nighttime views were memorialized on another table by Barberi, and several smaller plaques (D. Petochi, I Mosaici Minuti Romani dei secoli XVIII e XIX, Rome, 1981, p. 191 and 195, fig. 13 and 14).
Even in his own time, Cavalieri Michelangelo Barberi (d. 1867) was perhaps the most celebrated of Roman artisans (A. Gonzales-Palacios, S. Röttgen et al., op. cit. p. 168). Son of architect Camillo Barberi (d. 1809), and the brother of two painters, the family at one time lived in Paris where they resided with the Piranesi family, before returning to Rome before 1820, thus exposing Barberi to a taste for teh 'antique' so forcefully displayed by this table.
Barberi eventually left Rome for Moscow where he received commissions from Princess Volkonski, later opening his Roman workshop under her patronage. On a subsequent return journey to Russia, he was received by Tsar Nicholas I who asked him to assist in setting up a school of micromosaic artists based on that in the Vatican (A. Gabino et al., Roman Mosaic: l'Arte del Micromosaico fra '700 e '800, Rome, 2001, p. 186).
In 1851, Barberi participated in the Crystal Palace Great Exhibition where he received the only gold medal awarded to the Papal state for his mosaic table The Beautiful Sky of Italy (A. Gonzales-Palacios, S. Röttgen et al., op. cit, 1982, p. 282), an example of a composition he had already executed for the Tsar.