Lot 72
A fine Italian micromosaic table top
possibly Cesare Roccheggiani, Rome
second half 19th century
Centrally depicting St. Peter's Square, surrounded by depictions of Roman landmarks including the Pantheon; the Arch of Titus; the Campidoglio; the Forum; the Colosseum; the Temple of Hercules Victor; Castel Sant'Angelo and the Tomb of Cecilia Metalla, within a giltwood frame.
diameter of 24in (61cm)
Provenance: Property from the Collection of Mary and Lou Silver, Indian Wells, California.
Footnote: Cesare Roccheggiani (fl. 1860) hailed from a line of renowned Vatican mosaicists including Antonio Roccheggiani, who participated in the International Exhibitions of London in 1851 and Paris in 1855 and Lorenzo and Nicola Roccheggiani. He was believed to have been apprenticed to
maestro Michaelangelo Barberi (1787-1867) and refined his composition skill by copying many of Barberi's designs. Cesare Roccheggiani became the leading supplier of micromosaic works to American and North European visitors on the Grand Tour.
The attribution of this table top to Roccheggiani can be made based not only on the subject matter but the refined execution and his signature detail of the trompe l'oeil Greek key border within two malachite bands. However, Roccheggiani's Greek key borders were usually colored, leaving open the possibility that this tabletop came from Barberi's atelier (see Jeanette Hanisee Gabriel,
Micromosaics: Private Collections, 2016, p. 312). A smaller table top, decorated with the same scenes and displaying the same characteristic border is recorded in a private collection (see Grieco & Gambino,
Roman mosaic, l'arte del micromosaico, fra 700 e 800, 2001, p. 184). A top of slightly larger size centered by a scene of Romulus and Remus and the same surrounding scenes, bearing the label of Roccheggiani, was sold Christie's New York, 28 April-7 May 2020, lot 157.
We would like to thank Jeanette Hanisee Gabriel for her assistance in cataloguing this piece.
www.micro-mosaic.com
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Condition:
The frame 32 1/4 x 32 3/4in. Good condition overall. General marks, scratches and light wear. Not examined out of frame. With some fine, tight cracks to malachite rings. Do not glow under black light. Apparently original to piece. Examined under black light. A few minor areas of restoration.
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