Location: Room XIV – Royal Room
It is believed that this coffee table was a wedding gift from Pope Pius IX on the occasion of Maximilian and Charlotte’s wedding. Although there is no documentary evidence to confirm this, it is plausible that the coffee table was in fact a gift from the pontiff to the archducal couple. Indeed, micro-mosaic decoration was typical in Roman circles in the first half of the nineteenth century, and similar objects often figured among gifts from pontiffs to visiting sovereigns or diplomats. The minute mosaic decoration consists of a central tondo with a view of St. Peter’s and six ovals depicting monuments of Roman antiquity, the Colosseum, the ruins of the Forum, the tomb of Cecilia Metella, the Pantheon, the Temple of Vesta, and the Arch of Titus. On this table Maximilian signed his pledge to accept the crown of Mexico: in Cesare dell’Acqua’s painting immortalising the event, on display in the History Room of the museum, it can be recognised at the archduke’s side.
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