A CARVED AGATE CAMEO PROFILE PORTRAIT OF NAPOLEON I, EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH, BY NICOLA MORELLI (1771-1838), CIRCA 1810 facing right, after the Antique with short cropped hair and laurel crown, signed below truncation MORELLI oval 4.9cm Nicola Morelli (1771-1838), was a Roman gem carver, best known for his cameo works commissioned by the Bonaparte family, including the famous parure of 1807, set with cameo portraits of the family and given by Cardinal Fesch to his sister Letizia Bonaparte, Napoleon's mother. Morelli is thought to have been trained by Angelo Amastini, whose daughter he married. He is recorded in 1799 as teaching Benedetto Pistrucci and in 1810 was inducted as a gem engraver by the Accademia di S. Luca, being admitted to the Academy's order of merit in 1812. See Lucia Pirzio Biroli Stefanelli, 'Nicola Morelli, Incisore in Pietre Dure, Accademico di Merito di S. Luca, Virtuoso del Pantheon', Bollettino dei Musei Comunali di Roma, 1992, vol. VI, pp. 63-116, figure 2 for an illustration of a similar cameo, from the Castellani collection, now in the Museo di Villa Giulia, Rome. Napoleon was particularly fascinated by the glyptic arts (gemstone carving and engraving), founding a Parisian school, based on the Roman Academy, to teach the skill.
A CARVED AGATE CAMEO PROFILE PORTRAIT OF NAPOLEON I, EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH, BY NICOLA MORELLI (1771-1838), CIRCA 1810 facing right, after the Antique with short cropped hair and laurel crown, signed below truncation MORELLI oval 4.9cm Nicola Morelli (1771-1838), was a Roman gem carver, best known for his cameo works commissioned by the Bonaparte family, including the famous parure of 1807, set with cameo portraits of the family and given by Cardinal Fesch to his sister Letizia Bonaparte, Napoleon's mother. Morelli is thought to have been trained by Angelo Amastini, whose daughter he married. He is recorded in 1799 as teaching Benedetto Pistrucci and in 1810 was inducted as a gem engraver by the Accademia di S. Luca, being admitted to the Academy's order of merit in 1812. See Lucia Pirzio Biroli Stefanelli, 'Nicola Morelli, Incisore in Pietre Dure, Accademico di Merito di S. Luca, Virtuoso del Pantheon', Bollettino dei Musei Comunali di Roma, 1992, vol. VI, pp. 63-116, figure 2 for an illustration of a similar cameo, from the Castellani collection, now in the Museo di Villa Giulia, Rome. Napoleon was particularly fascinated by the glyptic arts (gemstone carving and engraving), founding a Parisian school, based on the Roman Academy, to teach the skill.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
