H()\vc\cr indivitlual were tlicir distinctions, the 

 creations of these artists were, direct products of tticir 

 time and of its own mentality. One of the purest 

 expressions of the intellcctualisni of the mid-1 9th cen- 

 tury can he seen in the German engraver Carl 

 Friedrich Voigt, who worked for many years at the 

 Roman mint. His work is an image of his era, with 

 all its merits and defects. 



.Mthongh N'oigt's artistic personality was formed 

 under the t;iiidance of most of the masters of his 

 period, he did not follow anv of them in particular. 

 Not an imitator, he proved himself to be a master 

 whose indi\iduality and professional skill were molded 

 and brought to perfection by the great spirits of his 

 tutors. 



Carl Friedrich \oigt '™ was born in Berlin in 

 October 1800. His first artistic training was with the 

 goldsmith Friedrich Alexander \'ollgold and the en- 

 gra\x'r Leonhard Posch. At the age of twenty he 

 joined the medallic institute of the Loos family and 

 worked under the direction of Gottfried Bernhardt 

 Loos. Shortly afterward, he became their first en- 

 yraver. In 1825 he was awarded the academy's first 

 prize for sculpture, which sjase him the opportunity 

 to go to London to work at the Royal Mint. The 

 guidance of Benedetto Pistrucci, a master of engrav- 

 insj, and the personal patronage of the Duke of 

 Wellington were of decisive importance in the de- 



''-uiuluu**^*'' 



Fig. 6o. — B.AV.ARiA, Louis L duublr laler, 1848 "' 

 (Div. of Numismatics photo) 



\elopnient of his future career. After six months he 

 went to Paris for further studies and tlien to Rome. 

 The world-famous gem engraver (iiuseppi Girometti 

 iMtroduced him to the art of cameo-cutting. ^L^nv 



gems and especially a caineo representing Bellerojjhon 

 and Pegasus are evidence of Voigt's exceptional skill 

 in this art. 



His special aptitudes soon found general recognition 

 and even Albert Thorwaldsen acknowledged his w'ork. 

 Endorsed by the great Danish artist, Voigt was given 

 the assignment to engrave the prize medal for the 

 Accademia Tiberina, which he later joined as a 

 member. Attracted by Voigt's fame as an outstand- 

 ing engraver, the art-loving King Louis I of Ba\aria 

 in 1829 appointed him first engraver at the Munich 

 mint. 



During \'oigt's activity at this mint, he produced 

 a brilliant series of coin dies for the historic double 

 talers (fisj;. 60) of the Wittelsbach king.'''- Other 



Fig. 61. — Greecf., Otto L 5 drachma!, 1833 '■'^ 

 (Div. of .Xumismatics photo) 



assignments for foreign countries, as the beautiful 

 gold and silver coins for Otto I of Greece (fig. 61), 

 a task he executed durina; his stay at the Munich mint, 

 gave his name international renown. In 1857 he 

 accepted an invitation of Pope Pius IX to work per- 

 manently at the Roman mint. He settled in Rome 

 and for almost fifteen years his name appeared on all 

 papal coins and on some of the medals. His days in 

 his adopted country ended when he died suddenly in 

 1874 in Trieste while on a trip to Germany. 



Voigt joined the jiapal mint at the peak of his 

 career, his name already world-famous. A well- 

 rounded pers(jnality, molded in the schools of the great 

 masters of his time, he was, nevertheless, an outsider 

 for the Italians, a stranger to their tradition. But he 

 bowed before the ancient civilization and submitted 

 to the rule of traditional papal coin engraving. His 

 coin dies do not deviate in form from those of his 



'30 RDM, vol. 6, pp. 305-310, and vol. 8, p. 250; Thii-mf. 

 and Bkc:ker, vol. 34, p. 508. 



"' DAVENPORr, German Talers, coin 597. This coin conmicm- 

 oratcs Louis' abdication in favor of his son Maximilian II. 



"- Da\i;.M"or r, German Talers, pp. 22-39. I'or liis Ba\arian 



medals, sec Habicii, Die MedailUn und Munzen, and Ki'll, 

 Alilleilunge)! der liayerischen Aumismatischen Gesellschafl (1885), 

 pp. 1-75. 

 "3 Davenport, liuropean Crowns, coin 115. 



28 



BULLETIN 229: CON IRUiL IIONS 1 ROM THE MUSEUM OI- lUSTORV .WD TECHNOLOGY 



