Venetian micromosaic 1871 “The Discovery of the Remains of St. Mark” by Luigi Taddei
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“The Discovery of the Remains of St. Mark”
An exquisite mosaic signed & dated “L. Taddei Romano F 1871"
As described in several gallery and exhibition brochures: "The mosaic represents in luminous colors, crimson and rose, and the full range of blues, greens, brown and flesh tones, against a background of shimmering gold tesserae, a moment of high drama in the history of the Republic of Venice; the identification by state and ecclesiastical authorities of the remains of Saint Mark, the patron saint of Venice, in the year 1241, following their discovery after a disappearance of over 250 years.
The body of the saint, miraculously preserved, rests covered by a blanket of rich blue velvet fringed in gold. Encircling the head is a bright nimbus in striking contrast to the pallor and shadows of the face.
To the right, resplendent in his ducal robes of ermine and cloth of gold, stands the Doge; at his side, the imposing tall figure of the Senator Ammira, the intense black of his hair and beard pointing up the gorgeous crimson of his robe. The bishop and clergy in their bright vestments, and the black-and-white robed acolytes bearing lighted torches, form an impressive group about the head of the saint. Occupying the foreground left, is a patrician matron, kneeling, her restive little son adding a sly note of humor to the solemn scene. There are in all 15 figures, each one a fatefully wrought portrait, the whole composition requiring for its execution approximately one million pieces."
It is based on, and a copy of, the very famous Leopoldo dal Pozzo mosaic (titled "St. Mark Venerated by the Venetian Magistrates", executed to cartoons by Sebastiano Ricci) installed over the second archway to the Basilica of San Marco in Venice, on St. Marks Square.
This mosaic without the frame is about 16" high and 32" wide, in a dark wood hand-carved heavy frame about 42 1/2 x 29 1/2. It was reported Luigi Taddei started it in 1864 and completed it seven years later in 1871. It is mounted on heavy slate laced behind with iron straps, weighs over 100 pounds, and one report says it is on a base of a copper sheet. Mounted in a dark wood hand-carved wooded frame, it is in pristine condition.
Luigi Taddei of Rome was born in 1824 and died 1874. The Taddei family is an ancient noble family of Florence (#19). Other works by Taddei include a round black table with roses given by Pope Pius IX to Queen Victoria @ 1859 (#25), and another table with wreath & flowers, (as reported in the 1862 exhibition, Official Catalogue of the Fine Arts Dept. of the Royal Society of Arts #22), a mosaic of a deer (in the Savelli collection) and a mosaic/enamels for a church altar (#21) for architect Alessandro Matteucci in Perugia. According to the book "The Portfolio", published in 1874 (#26), Luigi Taddei also made two mosaic book covers, "one in relief, which have something of the effect of embroidery..."
In the Roberto Griego' volume "Roman Micromosaic" Luigi Taddei is listed in the index of master mosaicists active at the Vatican Mosaic Studio in the first half of the XIX century. In the "Handbook of Artistic and Archaeological Heritage"(1845, p. 72). Luigi Taddei appears mentioned as a mosaic artist expert in flower, animal, illustration, architecture, countries, etc. with offices in via del Corso No. 42, Rome, on the second floor.
Many sources, including the original owners granddaughter, report it was made for a competition sponsored in 1864 by the Venice Academy of Fine Arts, perhaps in connection with the 1864 First Glass Exposition in Venice, in a challenge to see if a non-Venetian could make a mosaic of equal or better quality than a Venetian, and the subject chosen for the competition was the prominent mosaic over the archway of St. Marks. It is reported Luigi Taddei won the competition, a professorship in the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice and a knighthood. The mosaic was made by Taddei while he worked in Olivieri’s workshop in Venice.
The mosaic was commissioned in 1864 by Luigi Olivieri of Venice, passed down to his heirs and sold by his granddaughter, Frances Olivieri to me in 1982. There have been only two owners since it was made 144 years ago.
Luigi Olivieri, a Venetian merchant and art patron, commissioned Luigi Taddei to make the mosaic, possibly for a competition. Luigi Olivieri is also referred to as Chevalier Luigi Olivieri. In the 1860s Olivieri was a manufacturer of jewelry and seller of art objects, and had two shops (#24) in Venice on the Piazza S. Marco, named "Alla Nuova York" and "A la Ville de Rome". He also had a shipping business named "Olivieri e Sarfatti". As listed in Mark Twain's Notebooks & Journals (#23): "Gustavo Sarfatti was a shipping agent who dispatched many of Samuel Clemsens' Venetian purchases, including glassware & dishes made by Salviati & furniture made by Besarel". Luigi Olivieri was also appointed Commissioner for the Italian exhibition at an Australian exposition (worlds fair? ) which he organized. His company "Olivieri e Sarfatti" published a Venetian newspaper @ 1881. In the mosaics description it is misspelled Olivier, but the correct spelling is Olivieri.
It was almost lost at sea at the time of the international exposition at Melbourne, Australia, 1880, when the ship Europa sent out by the Italian government to convey the art, was returning and the vessel was damaged. At first the mosaic was feared destroyed, but only the frame was ruined. But it was reported lost at sea (#8, #4) while the steamship S. S. Austria, in route from Europe to the United States, destined for an exposition in New Orleans*. The ship ran aground on October 14th, 1884 off the coast of Scotland, near an island named Ailsa Craig, and the cargo jettisoned in an attempt to save the ship, and presumed lost. Multiple sources document the shipwreck and three newspaper stories from Glasgow & Edinburgh Scotland dated February 1885 report the mosaic in its wooden crate drifted, was found in Girvan, Scotland (a distance of 10 miles), was surrendered to the Glasgow Salvage Association, and the Underwriters Association of Glasgow forwarded it to the Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts, where it was exhibited for several weeks in February, 1885, and eventually returned to Achille Olivieri.
- Almost 100 years later, in 1970, Luigi Olivieri's granddaughter Frances Olivieri, managed to have it exhibited in New Orleans, in memory of her grandfather's unsuccessful attempt to show it in New Orleans in 1880. (reference: news story from the Mobile Register)
It was exhibited in at least nine locations around the United States around the years 1886-1889, several times around Europe, including Glasgow Scotland in 1885 and probably Vienna, Austria in 1873, and may have been shown several times in Australia @ 1879-1880. See below:
Vienna International Worlds Fair, 1873; Luigi Taddei awarded an honorable mention for the mosaic "The Body of St. Mark". (#5) Sydney Exposition, 1879-1880 (? uncertain) Melbourne International World's Fair Exposition, Australia, 1880 (? uncertain) (#7) The Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts, February, 1885 (brought to the GIFA and on display there after the recovery from the shipwreck of the Steamship SS Austria). (#8) Washington, D.C., Nov. 21, 1887, Mosaic Tartars Gallery, 907 Pennsylvania Ave. (#9) Cincinnati, Ohio; 15034 West 4th St; 11/26/1886 (#10)(#12) Boston, Massachusetts, Maritime Exposition Building, 1889 (#11). add dates
A story in the Boston Globe, dated 11/14/1889 stated "General L.P. Cesnola (first director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1879-1904) has written a letter praising it in the highest terms", and that Alfred Traber Goshorn (aka Sir Knight) and Mr. Joseph Gest both directors of the Cincinnati Art Museum, "paused it highly". (#12)(#13)
Chicago World's Fair, in the Pennsylvania Building, 1893. (#13) add dates New York City: Arthur U. Newton Gallery, 11 West 57th St., Dec. 5-15, 1949 (#14)(#1) Alabama, Grand Hotel, Point Clear, Mobile, Alabama, Oct. 1-Nov 1, 1969 (#15) Texas, Tarrant County Convention Center, Ft. Worth, Taxes, June 18-21, 1970 (#16) New Orleans, Dixieland Gem & Mineral Show, April 10-12, 1970 (#17) New York City, Dom LaRaia Gallery, March, 1978 (#18)
Vincent Crisci
New York
2015
References[edit]
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