Morosini mosaic in Talygarn House

A fifty square foot mosaic was created by Salviati for the 1881 Italian Exposition in Milan based on an original 1879 design by artist Giacomo Favretto. It's called "Venice Presenting the Baton of Command to Francesco Morosini".

Morosini was a 17th century Venetian soldier and sailor. The composition includes Morosini himself, Venetia as a beautiful woman, Kleio the muse of history, and St. Mark's lion. More than 7,000 color variations in tesserae were used with the noticeable exception of Salviati's signature gold.


In 1885, George Thomas Clark - a friend of Sir Austen Henry Layard - purchased the mosaic from the Venice and Murano Glass and Mosaic Company for 250 British Pounds and had it installed in the Hall of Talygarn House in Wales. Incidentally, Clark also gifted a mosaic reredos of the Last Supper by Salviati to the Charterhouse School in Godalming.

The mosaic - seen above in Talygarn House - was removed in the 1920s when the house became a convalescent home for miners. At one point, it had been left in a field on the property and as of 2008, there was the intent to donate it to the National Museum of Wales.

 Favretto's 1879 painting can be found in Venice's Museo d'Arte Moderna, ca'Pesaro.

Sources:
Barr, Sheldon. Venetian Glass Mosaics: 1860-1917. London: Antique Collectors' Club, 2008. 60-63.
ebay
Plant, Margaret. Venice: Fragile City 1797-1997. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002. 175.

St. David's Cathedral

This is a late-Norman cathedral in Wales that has undergone numerous renovations over the centuries including one by G.G. Scott 1862-70.

A carved screen separates the nave from the choir, beyond which is the presbytery containing the high altar.

Designed by John Hardmann Powell, three mosaic panels from 1871 decorate the high altar.

The crucified Jesus, John, Mary Magdalene and Mary in the central panel.

Ecclesia, representing the Christian Church, is on the left.

Synagoga, symbolizing the Jewish synagogue, is on the right.

Sources:
Imaging the Bible in Wales Database
Sacred Destinations
Barr, Sheldon. Venetian Glass Mosaics: 1860-1917. London: Antique Collectors' Club, 2008. 125.
Wikipedia

Church of St. Mary Abbey-cwm-hir

Built 1865-66 by J.W. Poundley and David Walker of Liverpool, this Welsh church completely replaced a 17th century predecessor.

The sanctuary features a marble relief of The Last Supper, flanked by mosaics of the Lamb of God (Agnus Dei) and the Pelican in her Piety.

Sources:
Imaging the Bible
Radnorshire Churches Survey

St. Curig's Church

Opened in 1883, this church in Wales by architect G.M. Roberts has now been converted to a Bed and Breakfast, but its original Salviati mosaics have been preserved.

The composition depicting Christ surrounded by angels that is located in the former apse can still be seen in the space now used as a dining room and guest area.

The mosaic is thought to have been commissioned by William Edward Sackville-West, the estate manager to Lord Penrhyn, in memory of the former's wife and was based on cartoons by Clayton and Bell.

Sources:
Bed and Breakfast Capel Curig
Capel Curig Tourist Information
Barr, Sheldon. Venetian Glass Mosaics: 1860-1917. London: Antique Collectors' Club, 2008. 125.