a certain rohust expressiveness even if the relief 

 modeling is very inferior. The work on a series of 

 medals-^- dvirins; subsequent years gave him a iaetter 

 understanding of relief and design. Certainly his dies 

 for the gold and sil\-er coinage (fig. 27) of the \'ene- 



Fig. 27. — Venice, Provision.'\l Government, 5 lire, 1848 '^ 

 (Div. of Numismatics photo) 



tian Republic (1848-1849) display a more subtle sense 

 of decorative arrangement in addition to a delicate 

 plasticity of relief. The old symbol of Venice, the 

 Lion of St. Mark,''* used in a new style, dominates 

 the field of the obverse, while a slightly oval wreath 

 adds grace to the reverse of the coin. 



Another engraver, Luigi Pichler ''= (1773-1854) 

 was better known as a gem engraver and as a painter. 

 His talents as a cutter of precious stones gave him 

 renown as a master of this art and his work was highly 

 appreciated at the Austrian court. Elected an hon- 

 orary memljer of the Viennese Academy of Fine Arts, 

 he was later invited by Count Metternich to teach 

 engraving at the institution. He spent several years 

 in Vienna where in 1821 he was given the opportunity 

 to make a portrait of Emperor Francis I. 

 Inspiration from classic antiquity often guided 

 him in the choice of suijjects for his mnnerous gems. 



He was also well known for a large number of fine 

 portrait medals, but as a coin engraver he produced 

 very few dies. The francescone of Leopold H (fig. 

 28) presents a well-|3roportioned coin design with an 

 impressive portrait. The clean line and the extreme 

 delicacy of execution, characteristic of a gem en- 



gra\er who is accustomed to minuteness of detail, 

 results in an excellent portrait of the Grand Duke, the 

 fragility of which contrasts obviously with the robust- 

 ness of previous portraits of the .same ruler by 

 Cinganelli and especially Fabris. 





Fig. 28. — Tuscany, Leopold IL francescone, 1841 '* 

 (Div. of Numismatics photo) 



More devoted to coin engraving than Pichler was 

 Giuseppe Niderost ^^ (1804-1856), dcscendent of an 

 old family of engravers from Brunnen, Switzerland. 

 He came to Italy to learn die engraving and within 

 a short while was working at the mint in Pisa and 

 later at the one in Florence, where he became chief 

 engraver in 1836. Assisted by Edoardo Gori in 1837 

 and later by Pasqiiale Santini, Niderost developed a 

 large output at the mint, and many dies for the gold 

 and silver coinage of Leopold II were produced by 

 hiin or under his direction. Contemporaries consid- 

 ered his art inferior to Carlo Siries', but this opinion 

 was based on the circumstance that most of his dies 

 were made for coins of a purely heraldic type; exe- 

 cuted in the traditional way with few if any changes, 

 they gave him little opportunity to demonstrate skill. 

 A neat workmanship was about all that was expected 

 from an artist. Nevertheless, Niderost adapted the 

 old Florentine lilv and the crowned shield of arms to 



'2 MoNDiNi {Spigolimdo Ira medaglie, p. 23) published a medal 

 (1848) of Danielc Manin by A. Fabris. 



'■^ C.\I, vol. 8, p. 661, coin 2; Paoani, Monete ilaliane, coin 

 299; Davenport, European Crowns, coin 207; Carboneri, pp. 

 173-174. 



'< Sec ako Pafadopoli, Alcune notiz'e sugli inlaglialori. 



^ BD.Vf, vol. 4, pp. 522-.S30, and vol. 8, p. 12^; Rollett, 



Die dret Meister der Gemmoglyplik; Bolzenthal, p. 318; Galeotti, 

 p. 474. 



^<^C.VI, vol. 12, p. 473, coin 71; Galeotti, p. 478, coin 6; 

 Davenport, European Crowns, coin 159. 



•" BDM, vol. 4, p. 263, and vol. 8, p. 96; Thiemk and Becker, 

 vol. 23, p. 459; Galeotti, p. 474. 



14 



BULLETIN 229: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



