evidence of his scholarly training.-'" Nalur.ilK he 

 could acknowledge only painfulK the interior quality 

 of his coinage. The Italian piihlic, aware ot the 

 complete failure in the artistic coiiceplioii of ihrir 

 coinage, expressed not only criticism, hut showed 

 interest in liringino ahout a chan^'e. A private 

 enterprise, the Johnson I'.stal liisiinient lor .Medals in 

 Milan.-''" mirst be crcdi((d with initialint; .uid direct- 

 ing a real niov.-nieiu lor tlie ■■artistic renewal of 



X. 



Fig. 103.— It.aiv. \"i(;tor r.MMANrri 111, p.iiinn hki lire, 



{Pliii(i> Ironi Pdgani) 



Italian coinage" in the years preceding World \\'ar I. 

 A contest held in l'*()l under the auspices cjf the 

 Societa Italiana per IWrte Puhhlica of Florence had 

 the purpose of promoting new creations for Italian 

 coinage. Two artists, Domenico Trcntacostc- and 

 Egidio Boninsegna, distinguished themselves with 

 their projects. The Johnson Estal)lishment in its 

 studios executed patterns of these projects in gold, 

 siK'cr, and copper. 



Influenced hy the criticism directed against .Spc- 

 ranza's poor version of the einlileniatic eai;le (fig. Kid), 

 Boninsegna resorted to allegoric representations such 

 as Miner\-a and Agriculture for rcver.se types (fig. 103). 

 Artistically insii^nificant, his first exjieriments, made 

 in an extremely low relief, were conceived apparently 



wuh the intintion of creatinu a coin teclinic.iUy easy 

 to he struck.-'"'" 



In 1'>I),S, under the direction of the Secretarv of ilu- 

 Ircasur\ i,u//alti, a prrnianciit commission, the 

 Ritili CiiniiiiisMdnr '/'i',iiii(i-.\iliitiiii-Miiri,ttinii, was as- 

 signed to super\ ise tlie selection ol new coin l\pes.-''' 

 .\ eotitesi held ilic s.nne year prochieed only meager 

 rrMills. X.i oulsl.uidin- .irtivis p.iilic ipaled. .\s a 

 result, in I'KK, tl,,- A',,//, Cumnusunn,' decided to 

 cfireetlv .i|i|.(.inl loui' icnuwiied .irlisN lo die t.i^k (jf 

 creating m w ((jin l\pcs: i;^idi(j Boninscm,,! for ihr 

 gold. Da\idc Calandi.i for the mK,-,-. |>i,.[n) C.,. 

 nonica - '-' lor the copper, .nid l.eon.irdcj Bistnlfi -'■ fur 

 the nickel coin.iuc. In Decemher I'HId i5(.ninse'.^na 

 presented his n.-w |ii(ijcct^.-'' Teehiueallv and .n[U- 

 tically thes- were nnicli I letter ex<-enled than his 

 previous experiments. J he p.ntern for tin- 2" litr 

 (fig. 104) can lie considered aniimi; his licst. While 

 the otlirr .nlisis enconiUeicd onl\ liniitrd crilicisru 

 Irom tin- commission - iheir new silver, nickel .nid 



Fig. 104. — IiALV, \l( iiiK l.MMWi rr III. [xillern 20 lire, 



l.|o(, --■-■ 



(.\ulliiii \ phdUi) 



bronze coinage was apfjroVL-d in 1008 — Bonin- 

 segna instead had to submit lo se\-eral ch.mi^es ol' his 

 projects before he could obl.iin oliici.il appro\,il for 

 the finished models of the L;old HI-. 2n-, M)-, and 

 UlO-lirc pieces in May l')l() (fin. lo.Sl. The liMdition 

 ol Ferr.u is and Speran/.i li.id bi-cn loi''_;oilen. .\ re- 

 freshing, vii^orous s]iirit bespoke a new mentality with 



2"See: N'lcrok F.mmanti r III, /u;i \ (ri31), nu. (< 7, pp. 

 185-186; F.L., K,n\ (l')3I), pp. 2().V-212: I'.viRKiXA.si, A'.n.V 

 (1931), no. 6-7, pp. 2 1 7-225. This issue of /A/v.V was d<-clieatecl 

 to the 50th anniver.sary of Victor F.inmanuel III as a eoin 

 collector. .See also Patrignani, A'limli (r'47), pp. IDd 101. 



-*" Slahi/imenlo p,r .\t,ila£;lii\ under the rliii-(ti<in of Simano 

 Carlo Johnson, wiio also [;)iil)lishe<.l ihe luiw^t^/hi luiuuah-, 

 mcdaglie-plachrtif fiiiKiiii, a icA ievv of nii'dallistic achievements 

 in Italy. In addition, he pulilislied in I'M 4 a |iiolnsely illus- 

 trated book, Lii ni)ii/iinl,i i/,ll,i Ltlii,i lulle iii,,l,ii^hi\ .mil, in I'M'), 

 Lc ritvmttiii-iimi ihiUniu- ,lrl I inilnii' f ilAhi l',i}.--j,i Cuilia iiillr 

 ififilaglti'. 



■<« C.\'I, vol. 1, p. 4')"^, coin 3; I'aiiani, /'i"cc ,■ /nut;,ili, coin 

 138. 



-•'» CA'/, vol. I, p. 495, coin Id. .Se<- .ilso I'aoani, I'li.tr ,' /n„i;,il:, 

 coins 172-173, 214-215, 316. 



-'•I Sei- .dso: < ;ni eeni. A'/ \ I I'M i ), pp. i5l 3o(p , I ' \i< hom ui, 

 pp. 433 441; DIn.mrh, A7,\ (T'Sd), vol. 4, pp. Ill 123. 



-'- I'ov his projects, .see; (.'.Vl, vol, I, p. 4')6, coins 21 22, 

 p. 4')9, coins 3')-42; I'aoani, P'i::y r Inn^illi, coins 317-321, 

 323, 358, 381, 386 38'). 



■'•'■'• I'm his loin projects, see; (.',\/, vol. I, p. 4')8, coins 32-35; 

 I'\(:ani, /' ".'<■ c j'ui!;rtl!, coins 2')5 2'!'), V13; (.! \ri»>nm<i, |). 549. 

 I'oi his m,-dals, see \[.:i.nrMi, RI\ (1941), p. 143. Hislolli 

 «;is also known for his |).hntini;s (f :()MANDei:(:i, l)i-int:,iiiii. 

 vol, 1. p. -3). 



''' I.anikanco, A',;c\ (I'l-M), p. 2 VI, pi. 7; ( .\A vol. I, pp. 

 4')5-50ll; I'aoam, /Vr<;r ,■ /))v/^'c//;, coins 140 111, 148, 166-16", 

 174 175, ISO; CoMANiiiNI, Rimrgnu iinnuiih\ tniilogln- /iliii/ull,'- 

 fiiswii'. (I'MO), p|). 1-5. 



-■•'■(.,\/, vol. I, p. 4')6, coin 23 Iwion^ly listed imdcr ptojects 

 of Canonic.il; I'aoani, /';",- .' I'l^'i^rlli. < oin 1^5. 



PAPER 33: ITALIAN COIN ENGRAVl'.RS .S1N( ;!■: 1800 



47 



