ROME 1786 - Lot 79

ROME 1786 Polychrome micro-mosaic on a blue ground depicting four doves drinking from a cup, circled in 9Kt gold. It is signed on the back Giacomo Raffaelli (1753 - 1836) and dated. It was probably the lid of a box that no longer exists. The original of this famous mosaic, found in the Villa Hadrian and now housed in the Vatican Museum, is a Roman copy of a Hellenistic mosaic from the 2nd or 3rd century BC, attributed to Sosos of Pergamon, whose name has gone down in history thanks to the writings of Pliny the Elder. This so-called "bird" model was the subject of several Roman creations from the last quarter of the 18th century, one of which is in the Louvre collections under inventory number OA 2130 in the form of a rectangular snuffbox mounted in gold dating from the early 19th century. Diameter: 7.2cm