Landscape with a Man and a Dog

Workshop of Castrucci Cosimo e Giovanni

This commesso, or Florentine mosaic, was made with different types of jasper – from Bohemia, Germany and Siberia. First mentioned in connection with the Borghese Collection in 1693, it was most likely executed at the end of the 16th century in the workshop of Cosimo and Giovanni Castrucci. It depicts a mountain landscape with a cliff and a small group of houses, which provides the backdrop for a man with a dog.

Object details

Commentary

Together with the Landscape with a Zampogna Player (inv. no. 522), this Florentine mosaic is in all likelihood one of two small compositions ‘of landscapes of precious gemstones’ noted by Iacomo Manilli in 1650 at the Casino di Porta Pinciana, where the cultured poet saw it together with two further works preserved in the Borghese Collection (The Promised Land, inv. no. 494; The Sacrifice of Isaac, inv. no. 490). It is still unclear when the work in question entered the family collection. According to Paola della Pergola (1959), it was purchased in 1634 by Prince Marcantonio Borghese, who through his chamberlain Domenico Baroncino signed several receipts, thus entering into possession of an unspecified number of compositions in ‘fine stone’. Although some critics unhesitatingly accepted Della Pergola’s thesis (Herrmann Fiore 2006), it is marred by the fact that the documents she cited – while undoubtedly attesting to the interest of the Borghese family in this artistic genre – cannot with certainty be associated with the work in question, as they lack precise descriptions.

In addition, as Sara Staccioli rightly observed (1972), Scipione Borghese took an interest in ‘certain flowers made in gemstones’ as early as 1612, which Pietro Strozzi judged to be ‘rare pieces’ in a letter to the rich and powerful cardinal. This document allows us to hypothesise that the works of this kind already formed part of the collection of the Casino di Porta Pinciana in the time of the ambitious and curious cardinal-nephew.

Whichever theory is correct, it is certain that this Landscape became part of the Borghese Collection prior to 1693, when that year’s inventory of the belongings of the Palazzo di Ripetta in Rome lists it as item no. 267 – the number is still visible in the bottom right hand corner – with the description of ‘a small oblong work in stone, roughly half a span high, with small villages, with a black frame. Artist uncertain’ (Inv. 1693; see Della Pergola 1959). This entry corresponds to that in the 1790 inventory which reads ‘One of the first works in gemstone, Gallery of Florence’ (Inv. 1790; see Della Pergola 1959): for the first time, this note associates the work with Florentine artistic circles. Indeed, like other commessi in the Borghese Collection (inv. nos 491, 493 and 522), this panel shows clear similarities with products of the workshop of Cosimo and Giovanni Castrucci, Florentine artists active at the court of Rudolf II in Prague from 1596 (see, most recently, Iommelli 2022). This connection, which Sara Staccioli (1972) already noted in her discussion of two other works in the Borghese Collection, applies to the mosaic in question as well. At the same time, compared to the other compositions by the Tuscan masters, this one betrays a coarser execution, evident in the imprecise arrangement of the inlays, allowing us to suspect that this was one of their first attempts at this genre, as the compiler of the 18th-century inventory indeed indicated.

As pointed out by Neumann and reported by Staccioli (Neumann 1957; see Staccioli 1972), this composition shows many similarities to the Landscape with Three Crosses in the Museo dell'Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence. The work in question was realised on a slate support medium covered by a thin layer of adhesive, on which the various gemstone tiles were skilfully placed. These stones came almost exclusively from eastern and central Europe and were widely used in the Medicean workshops.

Antonio Iommelli