inspiration and the mediocre level of \'ictor Emman- 

 ucl's coinage. 



The engraver Giuseppe Ferraris-^'' was Imrn in 

 1794 in Turin, the son of an employee of the Austrian 

 embassy. His familv later moved to Milan, where 

 the yoinig Giuseppe had tiie opportunity to work as 

 an apprentice in Luigi Manfredini's shop. At the 

 same time he studied at the Scuola di Belle .'\rti of 

 the Brcra Academy in Milan. A copy of .Andrea 

 .'Kppiani's "Olymp" established his reputation and in 

 1828 he fiegan working as engraver at the Turin mint. 

 The dies for the 25 centesimi of C'.harles Felix of 

 Sardinia were his first \vork lor his employer, whom 

 he served for the rest of his life until his death in 186'), 

 During the reign of Charles Albert lie was gi\en the 

 job of chief engraver, a position which he held also 

 during the reign of \'ictor Emmanuel II. 



Although the coinage for the unified kingdom was 

 created when he was 67 years old, it is definitely 

 superior to the previous series (flt,^ ''8). The more 



Fig. g8. — S.\RDiNrj., \'ictor Emm.\nuel II, 5 lire, 1851, 



Turin mint -■■" 



(Div. of Numismatics photo) 



compact relief of the smaller head, surrounded by a 

 well-distributed inscription, creates a balanced coin 

 image, which confers on this late portrait artistic 

 qualities that were completely absent from his earlier 

 coins. 



Ferraris displays a better feeling for plasticit\- and a 

 deeper psychological approach in some of his medals 

 commemorating contemporary e\'ents, such as the 



'"opening of the Sub.ilpine Parliament in 1848." or 

 portrait medals of X'ietor I'anmantiel II and of (!,imillo 

 C'.i\oiir. .\[)p,ircutlv these uorks nut tin- kind's 

 approval and lielped establish I'Vrraris' reputation. 

 He was decorated with the cjrder of S.S. Maurice and 

 Lazarus. 



His successor at the Roman mint was I'ilippo 

 Speranza."'** Born in l.S.V) in San .M.irino del Gimino, 

 Fili|3po came to l^ome as a boy. In 186.1 he eiUered 

 tile pa|).il mint as an .ipprentice, where lie worked 

 tnider tite directi(jn of Bonfiglio Zaeeagnini, Francesco 

 Bianchi, ,ind Carl X'oinl. .*si.\ years l.uer he bec.nne 

 an engraver. His first works were liie dies lor the 2)... 

 lire of 18(i7 and the Pope Pius IX ,i\v.ird medal for 

 ser\iees during epidemics. His sit;iiatui'e can also be 

 seen on a medal of bSCi'' for the ])a|>al iiiiiu. .\ \ear 

 later, after the aniii'X.itiim of Rome In the ll.ili.ui 

 Kingdom, he joined the slalf (jf llie royal nfint at 

 Rome in the position of chief eni^raxcr ( 187(1-1'H)3). 



His coins, considered by Comandini "the ex- 

 pression of a con\entioiial olficial taste," "'"' cover the 

 period of almost 25 years from 1878 to l')(ll. In his 

 position as chief engraver he created .ill ol the uold, 

 silver, and cojiper coins struck during the enliie 

 reign of Humbert I and also durini; the first \'e.ns 

 of the rule of \'ictor Emmanuel 111. I.anh.ineo 

 expresses a deep symjjathy for the adver.si- conditions 

 under which .Speranza had to work at the mint in a 

 studio devoid of any modern teehiiie.il l.uilities. I le 

 was forced to cut his dies directly into steel without 

 the help of a jiantograph. "This modest artist has 

 never been sustained, guided or encouraged b\- his 

 directors, who rather have sometimes hindered his 

 work." -^" Speranza was a capable technician, yel 

 never has the purely utilit.uian eh.ir.n ter ol a coin 

 |)redominated more o\er esthetic considerations th.ui 

 in his work. 



The i,'iild .md silver eoin.iue, which wilhoiU excep- 

 tion adopted the portrait of the ruler as the le.uhm; 

 tvpc, was an ill-ch(jsen field for S|)eranz,rs activities, 

 since porlrailure -'" consliluled the we.ikesl aspect ol 

 his artistic creations. The portr.iit of Humbert I 



23fi 5fl..l/, vol. 2, p. 88, and vol. 7, p. 2')K; Tim mi. aiul 

 Becker, vol. 11, p. 462. 



^-3- cm, vol. 1, p. 461, coin 15: P.mjani, Munrl,- ,l,il,an,\ coin 

 681; .Spaziani-Tksta, Cnsa Savow, coin l.S~; l)AviNPoi<r, 

 F.uropenn Crowns, coin 137. 



'-i^BDM, vol. 5, pp. 597-599; Tiia mi .md Hi.eKi r, voL 31, 

 p. 360. 



PAPER 33; IIALIAN COIN ENCiRAVERS SINCE 18110 



•-■3" CoMANiiiNi, h'l-X (l''n3), p. 477. 



•.^1" Lanfrani:(>, H„i.\' (1931), pp. 50 11. 



■-■n Amoni,' liis better works can be list' d .1 m.>lal stiu(k for 

 llie nnvcilini? of die Garibaldi Monunieiil m l.cKhorn, 1889— 

 see CoMANOiNi, /i'/,\' (1890), p. 2''5. 



45 



