A ROMAN MICROMOSAIC PLAQUE DEPICTING A CAVALIER

Based on the writings of Alexandre Dumas and the canvases of Meissionier depicting the tales of muskateers and cavaliers, the present example is characteristic of mosaics produced by the Vatican studio which catered to the Romantic tastes of European tourists during the final decades of the 19th Century. Though no artist is attributed at present, the signature confirms manufacture by Reverenda Fabbrica de S. Pietro and would have been accompanied by a paper label applied to the reverse identifying the artist's name. A very similar mosaic of a cavalier by Luigi Tarantoni is illustrated in J. Gabriel, The Gilbert Collection Micromosaics, London, 2000, p. 124.