a dog, assembled

image courtesy of the walters art museum and provided via creative commons license

This jewel of a mosaic is all of 2 11/16 inches in diameter.  Created in Rome in the mid-19th century, it's created from glass tesserae (the name for those little blocks that make up a mosaic) and set in enamel and gold.  I think this is an example of a particular artform called micromosaic which enjoyed a heyday in 19th-century Italy.  Would you like to read about that and see some more tiny and clever beauties?  Look here.  (Click on the words in the upper left to get into the site - it's not obvious how otherwise)