History
The art of Micromosaic was developed at the end of the eighteenth century in the “Studio of Reverenda Fabrica” in Saint Peter’s as a way of reproducing some of the Basilica’s painting masterpieces. By starting with the more traditional artistic methods, the mosaic artists created a particular technique requiring great care and patience: the spinning of glass enamel.
Small pieces of vitreous paste are fused and amalgamated over fire and, later, pulled with tweezers and turned into sticks of different shapes and colors called “filati”. These threads are broken into tesserae of minute dimensions, even less than one millimeter on the section.To create a mosaic composition, the tesserae are then placed on to a surface covered with glue, reproducing the picture like a brushstroke on canvas.
The Mosaico Minuto Romano, on account of its vast range of chromatic properties, was used in several decorations: from small objects such snuffboxes, caskets, jewels, and plates with allegorical-mythological representations, to views of places and of old monuments: all subjects which were greatly appreciated by the wealthy travelers of the “Grand Tour”.
