Specimen Block
ca. 1800 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This hardstone block was made to display a group of early micromosaics. It is an unusual example of the Italian use of malachite, which was rarely found outside Russia, its country of origin, before the early 19th century. The micromosaics may derive from Greek and Roman mythology, in which the butterfly symbolised the soul leaving the body at the moment of death.
Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.
Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.
Object details
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Micromosaic, malachite, lapis lazuli, marble and pierced gilt bronze |
| Brief description | Micromosaic, malachite, lapis lazuli, marble and pierced gilt bronze, Rome, ca.1800, Giacomo Rafaelli. |
| Physical description | A rectilinear block faced in malachite and standing on a square lapis lazuli plinth on a further square of black marble set within a gilt bronze frame on four pad feet. The top of the malachite block is inset with four micromosaic roundels with white ground, three depicting butterflies with their antennae facing centre, the fourth a bird on a branch. Each of the four sides is also set with a rectangular micromosaic of a butterfly perched on a branch on white ground, within a border of red marble. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
| Object history | Provenance: Frederick P. Victoria, New York, 1971. Historical significance: In Greek and Roman mythology, the butterfly symbolised the soul leaving the body at death. In classical art, in particular frescos in Pompei, Psyche is depicted as a winged girl resembling a butterfly. In Christian art, the life-cycle of the butterfly from caterpillar to chrysalis to insect, represents life, death and resurrection. |
| Historical context | The use of malachite in Rome in about 1800 is very rare. Malachite was quarried in Russia and was rarely used in other countries before the French Empire period (1804-15). Giacomo Raffaelli's work was evidently valued in Russia as he was asked by the Tsar to found a Russian school of mosaics, and although he declined to do so, was given the title of 'Counsellor to the Emperor of Russia' after Napoleon's fall. The micromosaics may have been set in a malachite block in Russia. There is a similar block of lapis lazuli set with a micromosaic in a private Roman collection. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This hardstone block was made to display a group of early micromosaics. It is an unusual example of the Italian use of malachite, which was rarely found outside Russia, its country of origin, before the early 19th century. The micromosaics may derive from Greek and Roman mythology, in which the butterfly symbolised the soul leaving the body at the moment of death. Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Other number | MM 69 - Arthur Gilbert Number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | LOAN:GILBERT.109:1, 2-2008 |
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| Record created | June 26, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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