Ix'voncl his cnpal.iliiics, jncl his cn-.itivc itsuuitcs 

 cioclined to tlie inannrriMn which was iiniirrd in 

 fi'^mc 4'). Apparcnllv icsii;iir(l lo sarriliriiV4 his 

 Dri^inality llir the safety of an uld, well-estaljhshecl 

 iradition. he accepted the eclectic forniahsin of iiis 

 time. His personaHty was completely ahsorhed hv 

 a tradition that was stmnn enough to perpetuate itself 

 for iiianv decades. In hnal years onlv the sii;natiur 

 distinguishes Giuseppe Cerhara's works from those 

 ol his contemporaries. 



Fig. 51. — P..\p.JiL RoMr, Pus IX, medal, \ear \I, 1851; 

 view ul' vi.iduel al .\rriei<i '"' 

 (Div. uf Xainisaiatics phoio) 



Giuseppe is seldom inentioned apart from Xicolo. 

 his younger brother and successor. The liadilion 

 which had persisted at the Roman mint, since the 

 Hameranis ttrst intposed the spell of their family on 

 the institution, formed the background forthe shaping 

 of both artistic person,ilities. Their indixidual re- 

 sponses, however, were very dillerent. 



Nicolo Cerbara "'' (1797-1869), of an even more 

 eonlorming temperament than his brother, showed 

 no tendencies toward outbmsts of incli\idtiality. 

 .\n cngrax'cr of gems like all his kinsmen, he was 

 associated for almost 30 \ears (1S29 -IS.SS) wiih the 

 Roman mint, where he also served as director. A 

 close friendship with Piciro Girometti induced him 



to coUaijorate on a series of medals conniK-mor.uin!; 

 fnnous Italians such as Galileo, Raphael, and Pope 

 Julius II (.Snir liiinografua iiuiiiismatii a ihi jnu fnmnsi 

 Iliiliam). 



\n assidtious woiker, he pi()diice<l, in .iddition lo 



• npressive sec|uence of mcd.ils on Pop.-s Gn-jorv 



X\'l .ind i'ius I.\. most of the dies for the pap.d 

 gold, siKer, .Hid eoi5|:)er eoinaue during the ponlif- 

 icales of Pins \'lll, (hcgory X\'!, Pius IX, ihr 

 \'ac,nu Sees of IS.iO and I.S46. and tin- Roman 

 Rei)ui)lic of IS4.S. He also engraved the fisherman's 

 ring of Gregory X\'I. 



Xicolo's work moved imperturf)ably along an es'en 

 line of mediocrity. Devoid (jf the fine sensibilities 

 exhibitcfl b\- his brother's coinage, his technicalK 

 perlect cre.itions ex])ress an astonishing spiritual 

 indillerence. Immol)ili/ali(in, a stilTenin<_; of aca- 

 demic formalism, conducive to dry form and cold 

 expression, characleri/es most of liis work, suuuesiini; 

 the "sacrifice of feelini;" attributed ii\ .Sutherland 

 lo the classical re\i\,il of the 19th cenltirv."'^ His 

 well-iialanced conip(.)silions, executetl wiih [dasiic 

 accuracy, cannot dispel llie impression of banalilv. 



The scene of the presentation of the Child Jesus 

 in the temple, created for the rexerse of ihe scudo 

 of Gre<;(.ir\- X\'I (fig. .S2), exemplifies iliis filling. 



Pig. 52. — P.M'Ai Komi . Ciu.corv X\'1, scudo. ifi;^4, 



Rnlll.iu IllilU "" 



(Div. Ill .Xuiiiisin.ilics pluji(i) 



TechnicalK' \\<-ll arranged, llie scciu' pi'esenis only 

 a Hal com i-nlion.ilisni of forms. Xo suliile \ ision 

 has ini|)arled lile lo this essentially st.uic group. 

 Ihe wooden siillness. accentuated b\ .awkward, 

 ahnosl |)arallel lunninu folds in the lom; y.irmenls, 

 is not mereK an exlernal .ittribule: it is ,in expression 



"•■ Patrignanm, BCW (I'M"), p. "8. 



"'Thieme and BhCKi K, vol. 6, |). 2')1 ; l',or/i NriiAr, p. idCi. 



11~ .1)/ in (::„in,i«r, p. 1')=. 209. 



II' (..\/. Mil. 1 ', mill M; .'si H MINI, [). .iSS, <i)i!i ■!"; Si-\/i\m- 

 'I'rsiA, / l<Mn,ini I'nnliiin, p. 12.i, coin 21S; I>avimmiki, 



Eujiilifiin (.'innrt. mill I'll. 



P.APER 33: riAL.l.W CttlN l.Nt.R.WKRS SI.NCi: I Slid 



iT> 



