Important table of the Restoration period. Italy, ca. 1820-1825

Important table of the Restoration period. Italy, ca. 1820-1825.
Tripod base in patinated and gilded bronze. Marquetry marble top decorated with micromosaic in the center.
Measurements: 81 x 78 x 78 cm.

Important circular center table of the Restoration period with a marble surface with inlaid stonework (inlay that combines different marbles) that as a whole adopts the synthesized form of a flower. At its center the artist delights in the realization of a micro-mosaic representing the Roman colosseum. The waist of the table, embellished with reliefs of vine leaves and vines, rests on a bombé shaft raised on a tripod foot finished with claw feet.

In the 19th century it was customary to give tables with micromosaic tops, or "mosaic in piccolo", to diplomats. This new technique allowed the meticulous virtuosity so coveted by the connoisseurs of the neoclassical era. The greatest masters of this type of micromosaic table were Michelangelo Barberi and Giacomo Raffaelli. Where the art of mosaic had the greatest impact was in the reproduction of urban scenes that were part of the Grand Tour routes.

The art of micromosaic fructified during the 18th and 19th centuries. The term was coined by Sir Arthur Gilbert to refer to mosaics made with small pieces of enamel. The use of birds was frequent in Florentine mosaics to represent the seasons as early as the Renaissance, becoming more frequent during the Baroque, as emblems of purity and the soul. The art of micromosaic was born in the Vatican to cope with the deterioration of its collection of paintings. Realizing that architectural mosaics retained their color over time, the papal workshops began experimenting with the technique of glass mosaic to reproduce the masterpieces. The Vatican kept the secret of the formula that allowed an exact reproduction with micromosaics whose lack of brightness and chromatic quality made the copy indistinguishable from the original painting. Already in the 19th century, private workshops began to proliferate in Rome in response to the demand of the tourist market. Commercial mosaics became available in a variety of decorative pieces. Many of them are preserved in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, in the Gilbert Collection in London and in the Vatican itself.