A GOLD BROOCH SET WITH AN ITALIAN MICROMOSAIC PLAQUE

Luigi Moglia became one of the most esteemed mosaicists in Rome. His workshop was located in 1856 at 134 via Babuino, Rome, subsequently moving to 42 via de Cestari in 1878. Among his earliest known works is a portrait miniature of Pope Gregory XVI (1831-1846), now in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg. Moglia was awarded a gold medal at the Great Exhibition in London 1851 for his 'Temple of Paestum'. There are two further examples of his work in The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, see J.H. Gabriel, The Gilbert Collection of Micromosaics, London, 2000, pp. 110-113.