AN ITALIAN MICROMOSAIC PICTURE OF THE TEMPLE OF VESTA, TIVOLI

The Roman Temple of Vesta at Tivoli, dedicated to the Tiburtine Sibyl, dates to the early 1st century BC and was a must-see for any self-discerning Grand Tourist. Prized for its sublime location overlooking the waterfalls of the Aniene, and for having survived relatively well preserved owing to use as a church, its popularity was promoted first by elevation drawings published by Antoine Desgodetz (1682) and subsequent etchings in the following century by Giuseppe Vasi and Giovanni Battista Piranesi.

This large ‘painting’ in glass micromosaic, and its pair depicting the Lucano Bridge (lot 51), are exemplary of the work of mid-19th century mosaicists such as Luigi Moglia and Cesare Roccheggiani who founded their careers at the Vatican Mosaic Workshop and later established private studios.