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HISTORY
Although the
Greeks and Romans used mosaics for many centuries, it
was the Italians who developed the art of micromosaics
in the Vatican at the end of the 18th
century.
TECHNIQUE
Opaque lumps
of enamel called Smalti of variegated hues were first
baked in a furnace and then teased out into long
filaments called Filati.
The mosaicist
arranged the thousands of colours as required into a
palette like an artist would and broke off the tiny
coloured strands as he needed them. Then they were
placed in an upright position, into a shallow copper
tray that had been lined with a slow drying adhesive
medium. The tray was tilted on an easel and the
mosaicist used the painting or design that he was
borrowing as a template.
MOTIFS
Popular
paintings of the day were used as well as classically
derived subjects or books of engravings such as those of
Piranese (1720 – 78)
DILETTANTIS
ON THE GRAND TOUR
With the
popularity of tourism every wealthy young man was
expected to complete his education with a grand tour.
The most popular tourist attractions became the favoured
subject i.e. The Colosseum, The Forum, The Pantheon,
Capitoline Hill, The Temple of the Sibyl and the Tomb of
Cecilia Metella. The most sought after was the Basilica
of Saint Peter.
Most mosaics
were bought in plaque form and were then turned into
many different forms of jewellery such as brooches,
pendants, necklaces, or snuff boxes.
Most mosaics
were priced at a level that the tourist could afford,
but some works of art worn by royalty like the Empress
Marie –Louise, who was Napoleon’s 2nd wife,
were exorbitant and the ultimate in fashionable
jewellery.
EPOCH
In 1798, at
the time of the Napoleonic expedition to Egypt, there
was a revival of classical interest. This corresponded
stylistically to the subject matter of the micromosaics
and as classical images became the fundamental style of
the epoch, the micromosaics became historical pieces to
collect.
SUBJECTS
As the 18th
century progressed the Grand Tourist moved into
different subjects some were romantically inclined like
doves which were popular symbols of love, or dogs
symbolising faithfulness, and the language of flowers
had a symbolism all of its own.
As tourism
became more generally enjoyed by both sexes genre
paintings of peasants and images of the countryside
gained popularity, but landscapes like those painted by
Claude Lorraine or Nicholas Poussin occurred less often
due to the difficulty and time it took to complete them.
Another
populist subject was animals and their prey taken from
the paintings of the age by artists like Stubbs or
Wenceslaus Perl (1742-1829)
The
derivation of many images came from the newly excavated
archaeological sites.
Examples were
taken from Roman murals, and ancient mosaic floors, like
the famous seated dog modelled by Antonio Aguatti and
the Doves of Pliny |
