AN ITALIAN MICROMOSAIC PLAQUE
AN ITALIAN MICROMOSAIC PLAQUE

ROME, CIRCA 1830

Details
AN ITALIAN MICROMOSAIC PLAQUE
ROME, CIRCA 1830
rectangular micromosaic plaque depicting Mercury piping to the resting Argus, in the foreground of a rocky and wooded landscape, with Io in the shape of a white heifer cow nearby, to the left of them, with mountains beyond
3 1/8 in. (80 mm.) wide
4¾ in. (120 mm.) wide with frame
Provenance
Sotheby's, Milan, 12 November 2003, lot 66.
Literature
J. Hanisee Gabriel, Micromosaics. Private Collections, Brian McCarthy, 2016, p. 142, no. 103.

Brought to you by

David McLachlan
David McLachlan

Lot Essay


This composition is after a painting by Salvator Rosa (1615-1673), Mercury and Argus, now in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Kansas City, Missouri. The scene is taken from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. One of Jupiter’s many loves was Io, a princess of Argos. When this was discovered by his wife, Juno, she turned Io into a white heifer, and handed the animal over to the hundred-eyed giant, Argus, to guard. Mercury was sent by Jupiter to kill the giant, which he did after first lulling him to sleep with music. Classical subjects such as this one were popular sources for mosaicists. An Italian purpurine snuff-box by Tomasso Calandrelli with the same micromosaic scene on the cover is in the Royal Collection. Another example is in the Gilbert Collection at the Victoria & Albert museum.

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