Micromosaic panel of Cathedral of San Marco, Venice (West facade). Opaque polychrome and gold glass; grout/filler; inlaid (?). Rectangular shape with image made-up of small tesserae, thin border of filler between micromosaic and edge of frame; filler painted and textured to look like tessarae.

This may be the largest Venetian micromosaic in existence. It measures five by seven feet, and it weighs one ton. As a rule, micromosaics are small works that emphasize detail; rarely do they exceed the size of a modest painting. This panel depicts Venice’s Piazza San Marco and its basilica. It provides an almost photographic record of the mosaic decoration on the basilica’s facade as it existed at the start of the 20th century. The panel is signed by the mosaicist E. Cerato, and it was on display in the store of the glass company Pauly & C. at the Piazza San Marco until the late 1950s. Developed in Italy during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the micromosaic technique made use of minute tesserae of colored glass that were arranged to create painterly effects. These tesserae were cut from thin opaque glass rods, of which there were more than 20,000 different tints.