Giacomo Raffaelli (1753-1836) | Italian, Rome, 1786 | After the antique | The doves of Pliny

Giacomo Raffaelli (1753-1836) is credited with inventing classical micromosaic technique in the last quarter of the 18th century. Originating in Rome he went on to establish a further workshop in Milan which was frequented by aristocratic and royal patrons. A micromosaic of the Last Supper by Raffaelli commissioned by Napoleon is in the Minoritenkirche in Vienna, and a clock decorated with micromosaic panels also by Raffaelli and commissioned by Eugene Beauharnais in 1804 is part of the Gilbert Collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv. no. LOAN:GILBERT.4.1 to 4-2008).

The composition derives from the celebrated marble mosaic floor in Hadrian's Villa dating from the 2nd century BC, rediscovered in 1737 and now in the Capitoline Museum, Rome.

Another version of the model by Raffaelli is in the Gilbert Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, acquired from J. Kugel, Paris, 1974 (inv. no. LOAN:GILBERT.194:1, 2-2008).

RELATED LITERATURE

A. Gonzalez-Palacios, 'I Mani del Piranesi: I Righetti, Boschi, Boschetti, Raffaelli', Paragone, no. 315, May, 1976