Micromosaic Of Pliny's Doves, Circle Of Giacomo Raffaelli

Mosaic, or Micromosaic Known as the Doves of Pliny, or Doves of Furietti, After Sosus of Pergamon.
Tesserae of Glass, copper.
Rome.
Third quarter of the 18th Century.
h. 1,57 in ; w. 2,36 in.

This mosaic belongs to the type of the Colombe di Plinio, the doves mentioned by Pliny the Elder in the 36th book of his Natural History. Pliny describes the pavement made by Sosus in Pergamon : ‘There’, he writes, "a marvelous dove drinking, darkening the water with the shadow of her head ; others bask in the sun, preening on a cantharus’ rim."

The discovery of this legendary mosaic in 1737, during the excavations of Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli by Cardinal Furietti, and its entry into the Capitoline Museums in 1765, must explain why the Doves of Pliny became the favored theme of Roman mosaicists, at the height of the European taste for Greco-Roman antiquities.

Not all imitations, however, of the Doves of Pliny are equal. They differ in the refinement of the tesserae, the grace of the doves, and above all, in precious details such as the reflection — made famous by Pliny — of the bird pecking at the water in the cantharus.

This mosaic was most likely made for the lid of a casket, a small box, or one of those snuffboxes sought after by aristocrats from all over Europe at the Piazza di Spagna in the Rome of the Grand Tour. Yet it is, compared to other known examples, is among the finest. It is closely related to late-century Roman productions, notably those from the studio of Giacomo Raffaelli, which copper cassine and bead friezes are characteristic. Of all Raffaelli’s Doves, the closest to this mosaic is also among the earliest known, a mosaic now held at the British Museum in London, dated 1779.

Sources

Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Book XXXVI, Paris, 1947 ; Anna Maria Massinelli, Giacomo Raffaelli (1753-1836). Maestro di stile e di mosaico, Florence, 2018.