BY GIOACCHINO BARBERI (1783-1857), SIGNED 'BARBERI' (LOWER RIGHT), ROME, CIRCA 1820

Gioacchino Barberi (1783-1857) who worked in Rome at 99 Piazza de Spagna, near the Spanish steps, was recorded in 1847 by G. Moroni (Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica, Venice, 1847, XLVII, pp. 79-80) as one of the leading artists of miniature micromosaics. His father Paolo Emilio, was a painter and his uncle, Cavaliere Michelangelo, was another famous micromosaic artist. Gioacchino is credited with the use of black enamel smalti which he used for backgrounds, a device taken from wall paintings at Herculaneum. For more information on the work of the Barberi family, see J. Hanisee Gabriel, The Gilbert Collection. Micromosaics, London, 2000, pp. 281-282. A micromosaic by Barberi, with a very similar scene, was sold in these rooms, Centuries of Style, 25 November 2014, lot 182. The subject is taken from the painting 'The Rooster and The Hen' by Johann Wencelaus Peter (1745-1829) now on display at the Vatican Museum.