Niccolò Morelli (1771-1838), Italian, Rome, circa 1805 After a model by Antonio Canova (1757-1822)

inscribed: NIC.MORELLI INCI., ANT.CANOVA SCUL. and SOMARIVA POSSEI.

commissioned by Count Giovanni Battista Sommariva (1760-1826);
his sale, Paris, 1839

The cameo is in excellent condition, there are a few very slight nicks to the edges of the frame and some wear to the gilding on the frame consistent with age and handling.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

It is thought that Nicola Morelli (1771-1838) was trained as an incisore in pietre dure  in Rome by Angelo Amastini whose daughter he subsequently married. In 1799 he is recorded as teaching the gem-carver Benedetto Pistrucci. In 1812, with Girometti and Cerbara, he was admitted to the Accademia di S. Luca, an honour never previously accorded to artists other than painters or sculptors. A portrait of Morelli by his son Carlo is still held in the Academy's collections.

Among his more important clients Morelli numbered the Vatican and Francis I of Austria, but he is most celebrated for his work for the Bonaparte family. A cameo of the laurel-crowned Napoleon I carved by Morelli from the Castellani collection is now in the Museo di Villa Giulia, Rome (L. Pirzio Biroli Stefanelli, 'Nicola Morelli, incisore in pietre dure, accademico di merito di S. Luca, virtuoso del Pantheon',  Bollettino dei musei communali di Roma, VI, 1992, pp. 63-76, fig. 2); and a further diamond-set example was sold at Sotheby's London, 28 March 1996, lot 300. Cardinal Fesch is also recorded as commissioning portraits of the Bonaparte family members from Morelli, to be set into a parure as a gift for his sister, Letizia Bonaparte, Napoleon's mother.

It is therefore not surprising that Morelli was among the gem-cutters such as Cerbara, Talani and Beltrami chosen by Count Sommariva to record in miniature the larger works of art from his collection (a task described as his 'favourite idea'). Giovanni Battista Sommariva (1760-1826) was a colourful figure who chose to spend the fortune he had made as friend and political ally of Napoleon on commissioning neo-classical paintings and works of art for his Paris mansion and beautiful villa (now known as the Villa Carlotta) on Lake Como. The cameos and intaglios from Sommariva's collection were all mounted in matching ormolu frames such as the frame on the present example.

Morelli preferred to work in relief rather than carving in intaglio but did not limit himself to portraits alone. He also executed mythological and other subjects such as a large onyx cameo of St George slaying the Dragon (Treasures from the Rothschild Collection, Sotheby's London, 12 December 2003, lot 95).  His carving of Palamedes, taken from Sommariva's statue by Canova, emphasises the sinuous lines of the original figure. A cast of the cameo is to be found in the celebrated Paoletti collection of copie di Canova e di Thorwaldsen: 10 : Palamede di Sommariva; the design is not known to have been copied by any other artist although it is recorded that Luigi Pichler engraved an amethyst intaglio with the head of Palamades, after Canova (H. Rollett, Die drei Meister der Gemmoglyptik, Vienna, 1874, p.66, no.160). It has been suggested that Sommariva, ultimately cut short in his ambitions and betrayed by Napoleon, saw himself as Palamades, the hero condemned to death by false accusations through the machinations of Ulysses.

RELATED LITERATURE
G.A. Guattani, Memorie enciclopediche romane, Rome, 1807, ii, pp.8-10; R. Righetti, Incisori di gemme e cammei a Roma, Rome, 1954, pp. 50-51; G.C. Bulgari, Argentieri, gemmari e orafi d'Italia, Roma, ii, Rome, 1959, p. 178; F. Mazzocca, 'G.B. Sommariva o il Borghese Mecenate...', Itinerari, ii, Florence, 1981, pp. 145-293; L. Pirzio Biroli Stefanelli, 'Avea il marchese  Sommariva...', Bollettino dei musei communali di Roma, IX, 1995, pp. 104-116 and XI, 1997, pp. 111-131; L. Pirzio Biroli Stefanelli, 'Hardstone Gem Engraving in Rome: the great flowering of the 18th and 19th centuries', (D. Scarisbrick, ed.)The Art of Gem Engraving, Japan, 2008, pp. 319-322