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Picture - Lavinia as Flora

Lavinia as Flora

  • Object:

    Picture

  • Place of origin:

    Rome (made)

  • Date:

    ca. 1830 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    Moglia, Luigi (maker)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Glass micromosaic with gilded wood frame

  • Credit Line:

    The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

  • Museum number:

    LOAN:GILBERT.886:1,2-2008

  • Gallery location:

    Gold, Silver and Mosaics, Room 73, The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Galleries, case East Wall []

This micromosaic is a copy of Titian's painting, Girl with a bowl of fruit (about 1555). Titian's daughter Lavinia may have posed for the original.

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.

Physical description

Rectangular picture in a gilt frame of a centrally-placed three-quarter view of a smiling red-haired woman with her back to the viewer. Her head is turned so that she looks to the viewer over her right shoulder. In her hands she is holding a bowl of fruit and flowers high above her head. Her clothing is a Renaissance-style gold-coloured gown with long sleeves and slashing at the shoulders. She wears a gem-set gold tiara and earrings, and a string of pearls. In the background there is drapery and a column to the left, and a mountain landscape through a window to the right.

Place of Origin

Rome (made)

Date

ca. 1830 (made)

Artist/maker

Moglia, Luigi (maker)

Materials and Techniques

Glass micromosaic with gilded wood frame

Marks and inscriptions

L[uigi].MOGLIA.F[ecit].
signer on lower right of mosaic

Dimensions

Height: 37 cm, Width: 30.5 cm

Object history note

This picture was hung in the home of Arthur Gilbert and his wife, Rosalinde, until they discovered an identical version by Luigi Moglia. They subsequently loaned this picture to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
It is an accurate copy of Titian's Girl with a Bowl of Fruit, or Flora, of 1555, which is in the State Museum, Berlin.

Historical significance: This picture brilliantly demonstrates the potential of micromosaic to imitate painting.

Historical context note

This picture is an accurate copy of Titian's painting of 1555 Girl with a Bowl of Fruit also known as Flora (goddess of flowers) which is now in the State Museum, Berlin.

Descriptive line

Picture depicting a Girl with a Bowl of Fruit, Lavinia as Flora, Rome, Luigi Moglia, ca.1830

Labels and date

‘Girl with a Bowl of Fruit’
About 1830

This micromosaic is a copy of Titian’s painting, Girl with
a Bowl of Fruit (about 1555). Titian’s daughter Lavinia
may have posed for the original.

Rome, Italy; Luigi Moglia (active 1823–78)
Glass micromosaic with gilded wood frame
Museum no. Loan:Gilbert.886:1, 2-2008 [2009]

Materials

Mosaic glass; Gilt wood

Techniques

Micromosaic

Subjects depicted

Mountain; Fruit; Bowl; Woman

Categories

Metalwork

Collection

Metalwork Collection

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