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THE WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY MAGAZINE 



early sixteenth century, after which date it fell into 

 disuse. The technique resembles marquetry in wood 

 and it was possibly as a result of his involvement 

 with the restoration of the marquetry and bone 

 reredos from the Abbey of Poissy in the 1 830s, 

 together with his travels in Italy, that Triqueti 

 decided to explore marble tarsia. In reviving the 

 technique, Triqueti illustrates nineteenth-century 

 interest in the past which frequendy involved the re- 

 introduction of old processes alongside the adoption 

 of forms and decorative motifs associated with earlier 

 styles. Further, nineteenth century revivalists often 

 sought to outdo their predecessors and this seems 

 to have been the case with Triqueti. Whereas early 

 examples employed a limited range of colours and 

 cements (largely black, white and grey), Triqueti 

 elaborated the range of both to such an extent that 

 one commentator suggested that 'on peut dire qu'il 

 a ouvert une voie nouvelle a l'art decoratifV 



Triqueti also realised that this process, confined 

 at Siena to pavements, had potential for wall 

 decoration. The sculptor seems to have begun 

 experimenting with marble tarsia in the early 1 840s, 

 at a time when other techniques for polychrome 

 wall decoration, particularly fresco painting, were 

 being tried in public buildings in both France and 

 England with varying degrees of success." The 

 advantage of the tarsia process over fresco, in his 

 view, was its permanence. He stated that the 

 cements had 'the same hardness, adherence and 

 durability, as the marble itself and that it was 'not 

 affected by the atmospheric influences often fatal 

 to fresco painting'. 7 However, the durability of the 

 process, and its elaboration in terms of the range of 

 marbles and cements, was achieved only gradually 

 as the surviving examples testify. 



Triqueti proposed the use of marble tarsia when 

 he was consulted by the architect Louis Visconti 

 (1791- 1853) about the decoration for the tomb of 

 Napoleon I at Les Invalides in Paris. 8 In 1843 he 

 was commissioned for a frieze, 70 metres long by 

 20.3 metres high, narrating the principal events of 

 Napoleon's life, which was to decorate the walls of 

 the peristyle around the tomb. As it was thought 

 no atelier in France would be able to execute the 

 work, Triqueti travelled to Italy to study examples 

 there and to experiment further with the technique. 

 In 1844, however, the idea was abandoned, the 

 effect of the marble tarsia being considered 'trop 

 eteint et efface' for what was already a sombre 

 space." 



Despite this setback, Triqueti continued to work 

 on the technique during the 1840s, and in 1848 he 



Fig. 2. Henri de Triqueti : The Visitation of Mary to 

 Elizabeth, marble tarsia 1847. Victoria and Albert Mu- 

 seum. (Photograph by permission of the V & A Picture 



Library) 



exhibited at the Paris Salon two panels: The 

 Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth (Fig. 2) and Peace 

 and Public Prosperity which were described as 

 marble mosaic murals intended for churches, public 

 or private buildings. 1 " Neither of these panels was 

 purchased, nor did their display lead to any 

 commission and it would appear that Triqueti 

 temporarily abandoned his experiments with tarsia 

 for there is no evidence that he persevered with the 

 process during the 1850s. However, in 1862, he 

 showed the same two panels at the International 

 Exhibition held in London in that year. This seems 

 to have been a late decision onTriqueti's part, and 

 the panels were not included in the catalogue in 

 consequence." The sculptor, who was often in 

 England from the late 1850s visiting exhibitions and 

 collections, 12 might have sensed opportunities for 

 decorative schemes in this country which prompted 

 him to reshow these works, even though they were 

 now fifteen years old. Certainly, their re-appearance 

 at the 1862 Exhibition led to a flurry of interest 

 and commissions. 



