evidence of his artistic c.ipiibilities as an eni;i-a\er. 

 As late as 1S15. \'assallo had en'j:ia\ed a simihir |)()r- 

 trait of Emperor Francis I on a prize medal celeljrat- 

 ing industries and manufactures (fig. 19), ijut in the 

 coin tlie cx[)ressive features of the sovereign, chiseled 

 by a master's hand in a \'er\- low relief, are |)crfectK 



set in the held of the coin, while the s.iin<- e\(|nisiie 

 proportion dominates the arraut;eineiu of the reverse. 

 It is tr.iuie that \'.iss,illo put a |)reniature end to 

 such \aried and proili<.;ious acti\il\. I'iiiauei.il wor- 

 ries and ill he.ihh <lro\c him to (onnuil suicide iu 

 March ISt'). 



FLORENCE 



No other Italian state rellect<'d tlie lurl>ule[U events 

 of the eighteen hundreds as much as Florence, strong- 

 hold of Italian culture. After 1737, when its national 

 dukes ceased to come from the Medici family, 

 Tuscany had a rapid change of rulers. The subse- 

 quent domination b\' the Austrian Ha|)sburgs was 

 overthrown b\' the new spirit ol libertv Mowing Irom 

 France. But the free and restless years of 17')9 and 

 1800 led only to another foreign domin.ition. Backed 

 by Napoleon, th? newly created Kinuilom of lururia 

 was ruled by the .Spanish Bourbons mitil 18(17, when 

 Napoleon's sister Elisa Bacciocchi took o\er and gave 

 Tuscany and Lucca a peaceful Init short rule. The 

 downfall of the Napoleonides brought the Hapsburgs 

 back to the throne of Florence, and only the growing 

 tides of the national liberation moveinent finally freed 

 Tuscany, which in 1860 became part of the L'nited 

 Kingdom of Italy. 



The political \icissitudes of these momentous 

 decades found only a pale reilection in i'usc.inv's 

 coinage. The series of silver francesconis or <-;old 

 rusponis show little if any chancre in the basic design 

 during the \-arious reigns. The crowned shield ol 

 Tuscany is invariablv the one reverse t\ pe used, .ind 

 only the small inserted escutcheons with tlie arms ol 

 the Lorrainc-Hapsburgs or of the Bourbons unob- 

 trusively indicate the passim; of rulers and d\iiaslies. 



'Fhe innuence of Vienna as well as Paris allernatelv 

 played a leading part in the developuKMit of the en- 

 graving art of Florence. But no outslandim; artistic 

 personalitv distinguished himself during the period 

 between 1800 and 1860 and no artistic school or 

 tradition took shape at the Florentine mint. In briej, 

 the art of ccjin engraving had an e\en How, undis- 

 tm-bed bv darins;, new ideas. The onlv challenge 



olTered to the artists was in porlrails. I Ie[e they 

 could show the ((ualit\' of their work. 



The names of the \arious coin ent;ra\i-rs dcMiole 

 the \aried inlluenei-s: the .\nslriaii '/.mobio Weber, 

 the French Louis Siries, the .Swiss (Jiuseppi- .Xiderosl. 

 the Tyrolian Linyi Fiehler more actually di.ui the 

 Italian intluence of .Antonio i'abris. i'ietro (anuanelli, 

 and Luigi Gori. 



Giovanni Zanobio Weber '" (1761-180.S), son of .ni 

 .Austrian officer in the Corps of the Chiards antl pupil 

 of the Viennese engraser .Xnnm Franz \-. Widemann. 

 worked chiellv during the kite seventeen hundreds.'' 

 OnW the die of an earh yold rus|Mne (180.5-1807) 

 and a zecchino ("Zecchino Zanobino") that was 

 ordered l)y the Jewish b.niker Lampronti lor the 

 Levantine trade are attributed to Weber,'" The 

 artistic execution of both coins, using old estaijlished 

 types, shows no personal character. 



More renowned w.is the .Siries d\nast\- of French 

 ena:ra\-ers, wlio included anions; the membeis ol their 

 lamiK' a famous woman ]).iiiUer, \ iolanle He.Urice 

 (170')-178,V). and her lather, Louis Siries •''' (d. 1~.^4), 

 the well-known en^ra\cr of ".^ems at (he court of Louis 

 XV of France. The presti'^e of I'renih enur.iv ing 

 assured Louis Siries the support ol (hand Duke 

 I''rancis II of ■l'uscan\-, who ap|)ointe(l him direi lor 

 of the Grand Ducal Gallerv in 174') and engraver 

 at the mint in this same period. 



Luigi Siries (174.^ 1811), his grandson, whose 

 work was often mistaken lor dial of the older man, 

 had developed a prodi'^ioiis oiiipiit l)y the lime ol his 

 death. As engr.iver .it the mini he (lU (he dies lor 

 die coinages of the (umiuI Dukes I'eler Leopold .md 

 Ferdinand 111. and lor Kiiiu Louis I .md his son 



, ,, 1 ic 3-("\7 vol f PP tS') 160, (Dins :^.^ "W; Uiwiiii. p. 103 



36 BD.\t, vol. 6, pp. 403-404: Timimk ..ikI 1'.m:ki k, vol. .-.5, L.y, \j)i. i- 1 I ■ 



roins 45 46. 

 P--'-^- , , ,ia,l,ln-; .«r,„lMl. and to:KlK (vol. M, |>. 10.?) .liul /(/).U (vol. 5, 



portrait ol \ inrcnzo Bcllini. ' ■ 



PAPER 33: ITALI.AN COIN ENGRAVKRS SINCE 1800 



