ROME, CIRCA 1840

Details

AN ITALIAN MICROMOSAIC PLAQUE
ROME, CIRCA 1840
rectangular plaque depicting a view of Berchtesgaden in Bavaria, with Mount Watzmann in the distance
3 3/8 in. (85 mm.) wide

Provenance

With Jacques Kugel, Paris.
Previously on a snuff-box in The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection and illustrated in The Art of mosaics: Selections from the Gilbert Collection, Los Angeles, 1982, No. 74, p.170.

Literature

A. Gonzalez-Palacios, The Art of Mosaics, Selections from the Gilbert Collection, Los Angeles (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), 1982, Rev. Ed., no. 74, p. 170.
B. Hillier, 'The Gilbert Collection of Mosaics'. The Connoisseur, April 1975, vol. 188, pp. 272-73, repr. in colour.

Exhibited

LACMA, no. 52d; LACMA, Decade, catalogue no. 82, p. 194, repr. in colour p. 88; V & A, no. 85.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

Berchtesgaden is often associated with the Watzmann, which at 2,713 metres, is the third-highest mountain in Germany and has a deep glacial lake Königssee. Much of Berchtesgaden's wealth has been derived from its salt mines, the first of which started operations in 1517. During the Napoleonic wars, Berchtesgaden changed hands a number of times. In 1805, under the Treaty of Pressburg, the area was ceded to Austria and French troops occupied the town and surrounding area for a short time. Berchtesgaden came under Bavarian rule in 1810 and became instantly popular with the Bavarian royal family, the House of Wittelsbach, who often visited Königssee and maintained a royal hunting residence in the former Augustine monastery, now the home of Franz, Duke of Bavaria. Tourism started to evolve and a number of artists came to the area, which reportedly gave rise to the "Malereck", literally painter's corner, on the shore of Königssee.

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