GIACOMO RAFFAELLI (ROME 1753-1836 ROME), CIRCA 1800

Giacomo Raffaelli was trained as a sculptor and painter but is best known for his work in micromosaic, a medium which he is credited with inventing. Working in Rome, he had a studio in the Piazza di Spagna, where numerous mosaic workshops were clustered to cater to travellers on the Grand Tour. Raffaelli’s micromosaics were highly sought after by visitors to the city and he is believed to have held the first recorded exhibition of this type of work at his studio in 1775. Raffaelli’s micromosaics are distinguished by their superior quality and the intricacy and detail with which he was able to convey painterly modelling through the arrangement of the thousands of tiny glass pieces known as tesserae. The present lot is a beautiful example of the artist’s affinity for portraying birds, a recurring feature of his oeuvre. The myriad of different colours used to create tonal modulation in the body of the bird combined with the pale blue highlights around its head and neck demonstrate the artist’s skill at achieving naturalism in mosaic form.