Italian Roman Micro Mosaic of the ‘Il Ponte Nomentano’

Period: 1800-1900

Origin: Italy

Medium: old paper labels, Mosaic, Pressed and Turned Tortoiseshell, gold

Literature: In the golden age of the Grand Tour small boxes decorated with tiny mosaics made from ancient coloured marbles were the perfect souvenirs. Travellers returning to the London fog with a miniature image of the great ruin of the Coliseum for instance, not only possessed a memory of the sights of ancient Rome, but also a scrap of the material used to make the original Imperial City.