A Russian miniature by Pietro de Rossi

A miniature on ivory depicting Venus and Adonis,
signed and dated lower left P. de Rossi f. 1803 

In the original gilt bronze and glazed frame

Height: 12.5 cm. (5 in.)     Width: 12.5 cm. (5 in.) (the miniature)

Frame height: 21 cm. (8 ¼ in.)     Frame width: 21 cm. (8 ¼ in.)

Frame total height: 26.5 cm. (10 ½ in.)

The frame with palmettes, the pediment decorated with a lyre flanked by two griffins facing each other.

Provenance

Collection of C. Pape, sold Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 18 March 1938, lot 128

This miniature is a remake of the famous painting by Rubens, kept in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg (inv. ГЭ-462). The theme of Venus and Adonis is evoked in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, which inspired great painters such as Titian, Poussin and Rubens.

Pietro de Rossi (circa 1761-1831 Saint Petersburg)

Born perhaps in Russia to parents of Italian origin, between 1761 and 1765, Pietro de Rossi spent his entire career in Saint Petersburg. Around 1800, he became the appointed miniaturist of the Russian aristocracy and the imperial court. Having received the title of miniature painter from His Majesty’s Cabinet, he became a professor of miniature painting at the Imperial Academy in 1813. Francesco Vendramini and Igor Skotnikov engraved many of his small portraits. He is credited with a portrait of Count Stroganov; dated 1815 (sold Christie’s London, 27 November 2007, lot 190). His 1813 self-portrait is kept at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.