Micromosaic Box with Monkey
Artist: Giacomo Raffaelli (Italian (Rome), 1753-1836)
Date: 1794
Dimensions:
rim diam: 3 in. (7.9 cm);
box H: 1 in. (2.54 cm)
Medium: opaque, cut, polychrome glass assembled on copper with tortoiseshell frame
Classification: Glass
Credit Line: Mr. and Mrs. George M. Jones, Jr. Fund
Object number: 2004.67
Label Text:This exquisite tortoiseshell box is decorated with the image of a Diana monkey made by the mosaicist Giacomo Raffaelli. Raffaelli is credited with the invention of micromosaics—images painstakingly assembled from tiny pieces (tesserae) of colored glass that are set into a resin-like layer on a copper support. Some of the tesserae in this mosaic are as small as .05 inches across.
Micromosaics became a specialty of 18th- and 19th-century Roman artisans. Although they customarily used prints, drawings, and paintings as inspiration for their images, the specific sources have rarely been identified. This monkey, however, appears to be carefully rendered after the painting by Melchior d’Hondecoeter nearby (notice how closely the pose and coloring correspond). How Raffaelli knew the painting, which was about a century old by the time he made the micromosaic, is not yet known.
Like in the painting, this monkey wears a belt and metal ring around its waist. A chained monkey was a popular symbol of humankind voluntarily captive to sin. It is thus a subtle reminder to use the tempting contents of the box (tobacco or sweets) in moderation.
Micromosaics became a specialty of 18th- and 19th-century Roman artisans. Although they customarily used prints, drawings, and paintings as inspiration for their images, the specific sources have rarely been identified. This monkey, however, appears to be carefully rendered after the painting by Melchior d’Hondecoeter nearby (notice how closely the pose and coloring correspond). How Raffaelli knew the painting, which was about a century old by the time he made the micromosaic, is not yet known.
Like in the painting, this monkey wears a belt and metal ring around its waist. A chained monkey was a popular symbol of humankind voluntarily captive to sin. It is thus a subtle reminder to use the tempting contents of the box (tobacco or sweets) in moderation.
On view
In Collection(s)