BY THE VATICAN MOSAIC STUDIO, LATE 19TH CENTURY

This fine mosaic panel is characteristic of ‘cavalier genre’ scenes championed by the Vatican Mosaic Workshop during the second half of the 19th century. While many mosaics of its kind were inspired by the tales of Alexandre Dumas (The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo), the present example is a reproduction of Francesco Vinea’s canvas titled Nella Cantina (1876). An unpolished panel of the same subject is illustrated J. Gabriel, The Gilbert Collection Mosaics, London, 2000, p. 168.