Cast Court, South Kensington Museum

Two architectural courts were designed by General Henry Scott in 1870 for the museum to house both cast reproductions of architectural elements, as well as some original pieces. The space opened in 1873. Salviati and Company made two mosaic reproductions that originally hung on the walls of the south-east Court.

The Good Shepherd is a copy of the lunette above the entrance of the Chapel of Galla Placida in Ravenna Italy originally from the 5th century.

The Salviati mosaic lunette on top right in the Weston Cast Court, 2016.

The original mosaic in Ravenna

The mosaic Figure of Christ is a copy from St. Mark's Basilica in Venice from the 13th century. It depicts the Savior giving a benediction (item 8036-1862), acquired by the museum in 1862 for 200BP, but which is now in storage. Salviati made another copy of a St. Mark's mosaic image of Christ for St. Augustine's College in Canterbury.

The museum also bought in 1864 a mosaic medallion of the head of St. John the Evangelist (item 797-1864) from Salviati for 25BP, but it is now also in storage.

Sources:
The Victoria and Albert Museum
Appell, William. Christian Mosaic Pictures: A Catalogue of Reproductions of Christian Mosaics. London: South Kensington Museum, 1877. 17.
Wikimedia Commons
Film London
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V& A Search.
Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol. 1. London : Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868.

Palazzo Salviati

The Salviati companies have occupied several locations within the Veneto, including in Murano and in Venice.
The firm was established in 1859 in Murano's relatively plain, 12th century Palazzo da Mula.

Another early showroom in Venice was in the Palazzo Barbarigo, which is a 16th century building that the company covered in mosaic murals in 1868.

In 1896, Salviati had 23 rooms full of their wares in Palazzo Bernardo, which was not adorned with mosaics.

The Palazzo Salviati is located across from the Santa Maria del Giglio vaporetto station and while the mosaics were added in 1924 and are much younger than many of the others documented on this site, the building has been added because it is a very prominent architectural landmark in Venice. As one of the most visible examples of the Salviati name connected to mosaics, it would have been remiss to leave it out.

Sources:
Robertson, Alexander. Through the Dolomites. 1896. 236.
Simonis, Damien. Venice and the Veneto. Lonely Planet, 2008. 131.
Plant, Margaret. Venice: Fragile City, 1797-1997. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002. 177.
RIBA
pBase Gallery
unofeld781 on Wikimedia Commons
abxbay on Wikimedia Commons

Palazzo Barbarigo Venice

Located near the entrance to the magnificent Grand Canal on the left side about halfway between the entrance to the canal at the Doge's Palace and the Ponte dell' Accademia, this 16th century building was used for the design, light manufacture (cutting and assembly of the smalti), sale and display of Salviati mosaics.

This is not the same building as the Palazzo Barbarigo Hotel, which is further down the canal, but rather the one just a few hundred feet from the location of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Coincidentally, another two hundred feet past the Guggenheim building is the Palazzo Salviati, a 1924 building that was also lavishly decorated with mosaics to advertise the company's products.

The mosaic scenes on the Barbarigo's maritime facade were added in 1868. The central frieze shows thirty-five cherubs pursuing various artistic endeavors including painting, drawing, sculpture and architecture.

The two individual murals - designed by Giulio Carlini - commemorate 16th century royal visits to Venice including Charlemagne (Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor) speaking to Titian on the scaffolding of St. Mark's Basilica. A young mosaicist looks on from above, pausing from his work.

The second mural shows the future French King Henry III in 1574 on the Doge's barge along with a team of glassmakers.

Portraits of arguably the two most famous Venetian painters - Titian and Tintoretto - are located above each scene. St. Mark's lion - the symbol of the city of Venice - tops one of the two individual portraits, while the back rooster - the symbol of Murano - crowns the other.


Sources:
Barr, Sheldon. Venetian Glass Mosaics: 1860-1917. London: Antique Collectors' Club, 2008. 27, 31-32.
Venice Daily Photo
Branislav Slantchev on Gotterdamerung
HEN-Magonza's flickr Photostream
Smith, George Ed. The Cornhill Magazine. XIX. London: Smith, Elder and Co., January to June, 1869. 462.