H: 21.5 in / 55 cm | W: 15 in / 38.5 cm
Description
Gilt frames of portrait form enclose the plaques, which depict male and female Italian villagers in colourful traditional local costume, the Roman Campana in the backgrounds; the remarkable original labels to the obverse detail their origin, the famous Vatican Mosaic Studio, and the date the pieces were sold, 16 July 1924. The male figure portrait bears an indecipherable signature to the lower right.
The Vatican, Italy, Circa 1924
VATICAN MOSAIC WORKSHOP
Studio del Musaico dell Reverenda Fabbrica di S. Pietro (Mosaic Studio of the Reverenced Work Shop of St. Peter’s) was created in the Sixteenth Century to create architectural mosaics for the new basilica, and was later established as a distinct entity in 1727, supplying extraordinarily detailed views of Rome to the new industry of ‘tourism’, in the form of table tops, tablets and jewellery.
