LAURANA, FRANCESCO (Ital.). Painter, Sculptor and Medallist, circ. 1430-1501; a native of the ancient fortified city of the Templars, La Vrana or Laurana, near Zara. In Neapolitan documents his name occurs also as Francesco Adzara (for Francesco da Zara). Laurana, the favourite Sculptor and Medallist of René of Anjou, Count of Provence and King of Naples (1458-1480) is the first champion of the Renaissance in France. Between 1468 and 1471, a Franciscus Laurana, habitator urbis Panormi et civitatis Venetiarum was working in Sicily and executed a statue of the Virgin for the Dome of Palermo, bearing the inscription : Franciscus a Laurana me fecit MCCCCLXXI. Later, circ. 1478- 1480, a Franciscus Laurens is mentioned in the accounts of the court of Count René as " tailleur d'ymaiges " and sculptor. In 1490, the name of Laurens occurs as Founder and Chaser, in connection with the mausoleum of Ferry II., Count of Lorraine and Vaudemont, erected in St. George's Church at Nancy. All three references undoubtedly concern the same artist. Laurana's name is intimately connected with that of his colleague, the architect and medallist Pietro da Milano. Both were attached to the person of King René, and modelled Portrait-medals of their Patron, his Queen and courtiers. The recent researches of E. Müntz, Maxe-Werly, C. von Fabriczy and others have settled many obscure points in Francesco da Laurana's history. The great artist left Italy soon after 1458, sojourned in Provence (at Aix) until about 1466, then returned to his native land. In 1468, 1471 and 1473 he was working in Sicily for various churches, but in 1478, we find him back in France, and residing at Marseilles, where he married and lived until 1483. Later, circ. 1490, Laurens le fondeur was engaged at Nancy on the mausoleum of the Count of Vaudemont. He appears to have spent the last few years of his life at Avignon, with his daughter and sonin law the painter Jean de la Barre. In all probability he died in the early part of 1501 and was buried in the chapel which his daughter Maragda (or Meranda) had acquired near the Augustin convent at Avignon, for the sepulture of her family. The last mention of Laurana's name occurs on a contract, dated 14. October 1500, relating to the sale of some house property at Marseilles, and he is there styled : " Franciscus Laurana, scissor ymaginum ". Pierre de Milan et Francesco Laurana, tous les deux sculpteurs, ont gardé sur notre sol le caract?re de leur patrie d'origine. La composition, le dessin, le modele, tout rappelle l'art italien dans leurs ouvrages. Tout, sauf la fonte; la mauvaise qualité de la fonte confirmerait m?me le fait de leur exécution en France " (Rondot et De La Tour, Les Médailleurs et les graveurs de monnaies, &c., 1904, p. 71). Some of the signed medals of Laurana are dated 1461, 1463 and 1466 ; others are undated. With the exception of the Portrait-piece of Louis XI., they all represent King René, Queen Jeanne, and personages of their court. The following are known : 1461. Triboulet, King René's buffoon, Bust to r. R. Lion seated to l.; above, in three lines : .M. — CCCC. — LXI.; in exergue, in three lines : FRANCISCVS-LAVRANA-F. (Diam.79 mill.); — Jeanne de Laval, second wife of King René, Bust to l., hair hidden in richly ornamented coiffure. R. PER NON PER. M CCCC- LXI. A pair of turtle-doves, in ex. : FRANCISCVS-LAVRANA FECIT (D. 90). (R. probably designed by King René himself, vide Heiss, p. 19) ; — 1463. René of Anjou and his consort Jeanne de Laval, Busts conjoined to r. R. PAX AVGVSTI. Peace standing facing, with a sprig of laurel in one hand and helmet in the other; to r., withered trunk of a tree from which issues one shoot ; in the field : M — CCCC — LXIII.; in ex. : -FRANCISCVS-LAVRANA- FECIT (D. 90). A variety of obv. exists with legend : DVO- CORPORA- VNVS ANIM. (uniface) ; — 1464. John of Anjou, Duke of Calabria, Bust to l. R. Circular temple, the cupola surmounted with a statue of the Archangel Michael (the temple is copied from that of Vesta at Rivoli) ; in the field : M - CCCC - LXIIII ; ex. : FRANCISCVS LAVRANA (F ?). (D. 85); — Undated (perhaps 1461 ?). Charles IV. of Anjou, Count of Maine, Bust to r. R. Map of the world ; FRANCISCVS LAVRANA FECIT (D. 70) (2 var.) ; — Undated. Louis XI, King of France, Bust tor. wearing his favourite head-dress, the chapel; R. CONCORDIA AVGVSTA. Concord seated to r. ; in ex. : FRANCIS-LAVRANA FECIT (D. 85). Type of R. copied from a Roman sestertius or medallion. The portrait of Louis XI. is very realistic. Von Fabriczy calls it Laurana's masterpiece, and adds : "The cunning craftiness, the suspicion, but at the same time the resolution of this, the first modern despot and incarnate reaction against the ideals and weaknesses of the Middle Ages, are excellently expressed in the portrait ". " Notwithstanding ", continues the same writer, " Laurana fails by a long way to reach Pisano's grandeur of style, strength of modelling and mastery of technique ; his imitation of nature is superficial, at times quite painful, and the treatment of the relief is flat and lacking in character ". Varieties exist of the Louis XI. medal ; one in silver, uniface(obv. only) was in the Armand collection ; another, in the French Cabinet, has on R. SANCTIS • MICHAELIS • ORDINIS • INSTITVTOR. Shield of France within collar of the Order of St Michael ; — 1466. Jean Cossa, Count of Troya, Bust to r. (ECCE • COMES • TROIAE. , &c.); R. FRANCISCVS • LAVRANA • FECIT • • ANNO • DNI • MCCCCLXVI. Within laurel-wreath, between the letters I—C, two broken horseshoes interlinked. To the above-described medals, Heiss and Armand add a Portraitpiece, undated, of an unknown person, with legend : HIC • IN • TERRIS • MERVIT • SIBI • NOMEN • OLIMPO • The person represented is without much doubt one of the poets of the court of good King René, one of the few princes who, North of the Alps, extended the magnificent patronage of the Italian rulers to sciences and arts, and himself won laurels in painting an l verse-making; — 1464. Ferry II., Count of Vaudemont, Bust to r. R. FRANCISCVS • LAVRANA • FECIT. — MCCCCLXIIII. The Count on horseback to 1. (Collection ofthe Glasgow University), &c. Friedländer illustrates a medal of Jean de Matharon († 1495) which he thinks bears analogy with Laurana's work. Details are wanting as to the artist's collaboration in the decoration of King Alfonso's Triumphal Arch at Naples, but his hand can be traced in many works of sculpture still extant in Italy, South of France and Lorraine, among which are : " Portement de Croix " in St. Didier's Church at Avignon (1481); Mausoleum of Jean de Cossa, Marshal of Provence (1476-1481); Decoration of the St. Lazare Chapel in the " Major" church at Marseilles (1483) ; The Joinville Mausoleum of Count Ferry de Vaudemont, nephew of King René, and father of René II., Duke of Lorraine ; Tomb of Charles IV. of Anjou in the cathedral of Le Mans ; Marble statue of the Virgin on the door-way of the chapel of Castelnuovo at Naples ; Retable of the Church of Celestins at Avignon ; Niche of King René in Tarascon castle; and the mutilated bust of René and Jeanne de Laval in the Tarascon Biblioth?que. Bibliography. — A. Heiss, Les Médailleurs de la Renaissance, Francesco Laurana, Pietro di Milano, Paris, 1882. — A. Armand, Les Médailleurs italiens des XVe et XVIe siécles, Paris, 1883-1887. — C. von Fabriczy, Medaillen der italienischen Renaissance, Leipzig, 1903. — Dr- Julius Friedländer, Die italienischen Schaumünzen des fünfzehnten Jahrhunderts, Berlin, 1882. — E. Müntz, Histoire de I' Art pendant la Renaissance, II. — Courajod et Marcou, Catalogue raisonné du Musée de sculpture du Trocadéro. — Grande Encyclopédie — Grand Dictionnaire Larousse. — M. Maxe- Werly, Francesco da Laurana, 1899. — Dr Barthélemy, Francesco Laurana, 1885. E. Müntz, Les derni?res années du sculpteur Laurana, Chronique des Arts et de la Curiosité. — Bolzenthal, op. cit. — Gazette des Beaux-Arts, mars 1903. — Blanchet, op. cit., II, p. 383. — Revue archéol., 1899, p. 160.
Source: Biographical dictionary of medallists; coin, gem, and seal-engravers, mint-masters, ancient and modern, with references to their works B.C. 500-A.D. 1900; compiled by L. Forrer, London 1904
Source: Biographical dictionary of medallists; coin, gem, and seal-engravers, mint-masters, ancient and modern, with references to their works B.C. 500-A.D. 1900; compiled by L. Forrer, London 1904
LAFITTE
LAFITTE (French). Medallist of the early part of the nineteenth century, who worked on Mudie's National Series of English Medals. His signature occurs on the following medals : Battle of Talavera, 1809, obv. Bust of Wellington, by Mills R. Victory facing (illustrated), &c., signed LAFITTE ; — The English Army upon the Scheldt, 1815, obv. Bull to r., by Depaulis R. River-god reclining to r., signed LF. F. A Draughtsman and Historical Painter of the name of Louis Lafitte, 1770- 1828, designed vari...
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LAFITTE (French). Medallist of the early part of the nineteenth century, who worked on Mudie's National Series of English Medals. His signature occurs on the following medals : Battle of Talavera, 1809, obv. Bust of Wellington, by Mills R. Victory facing (illustrated), &c., signed LAFITTE ; — The English Army upon the Scheldt, 1815, obv. Bull to r., by Depaulis R. River-god reclining to r., signed LF. F. A Draughtsman and Historical Painter of the name of Louis Lafitte, 1770- 1828, designed vari...
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LAFLEUR, ABEL
LAFLEUR, ABEL (French). Contemporary Sculptor and Medallist, born at Rodez (Aveyron) ; pupil of Ponscarme and Chaplain. At the Salon of 1901, he exhibited a frame containing four Portraitplaquettes, and a medal "Souvenir"; in 1902, three Portraitplaquettes, and a medal representing a Lady seated; in 1903, Portrait of Mme X***; — Medal " Femme églantine "; — Femme aux gants; — Femme au manchon ; — Femme nue, apr?s le bain ; — Danseuse; — in 1904 ; — Femme au bain, plaquette, 1904; — Baigneuse ; —...
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LAFLEUR, ABEL (French). Contemporary Sculptor and Medallist, born at Rodez (Aveyron) ; pupil of Ponscarme and Chaplain. At the Salon of 1901, he exhibited a frame containing four Portraitplaquettes, and a medal "Souvenir"; in 1902, three Portraitplaquettes, and a medal representing a Lady seated; in 1903, Portrait of Mme X***; — Medal " Femme églantine "; — Femme aux gants; — Femme au manchon ; — Femme nue, apr?s le bain ; — Danseuse; — in 1904 ; — Femme au bain, plaquette, 1904; — Baigneuse ; —...
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LAGAE, JULES
LAGAE, JULES (Belg.). Contemporary Sculptor and Medallist, born at Roulers, 15. March 1862, and now residing at Brussels. Pupil of Charles Van der Stappen, and Lambeaux. He has produced several decorative works, among the more notable being a Medal for the Brussels Exhibition of 1897, and the monument erected in memory of the poet, Ledeganck ; also : La Ville de Gand, Plaquette ; — Portrait-medal of M. Edouard Simon, Burgomaster of Perwelz, 1902. In 1888, the artist obtained the Prix of de Rome,...
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LAGAE, JULES (Belg.). Contemporary Sculptor and Medallist, born at Roulers, 15. March 1862, and now residing at Brussels. Pupil of Charles Van der Stappen, and Lambeaux. He has produced several decorative works, among the more notable being a Medal for the Brussels Exhibition of 1897, and the monument erected in memory of the poet, Ledeganck ; also : La Ville de Gand, Plaquette ; — Portrait-medal of M. Edouard Simon, Burgomaster of Perwelz, 1902. In 1888, the artist obtained the Prix of de Rome,...
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LAGEMAN, HENDRIK
LAGEMAN, HENDRIK (Dutch), Medallist of Amsterdam, son of J. M. Lageman, was born in 1765 and died in 1816 ; pupil of Carl Konsé, and J. G. Holtzhey. His productions were much admired by his contemporaries, and are few in number. By him are : 1794. Wicker Wickers and his consort Clara Smith ; — Patriotic Medal ; — 1787. Return of Prince William V. to The Hague; — 1788. Conclusion of the Act of Guarantee between the provinces of the Netherlands; — 1788. The Stadholder's household visits Brock in W...
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LAGEMAN, HENDRIK (Dutch), Medallist of Amsterdam, son of J. M. Lageman, was born in 1765 and died in 1816 ; pupil of Carl Konsé, and J. G. Holtzhey. His productions were much admired by his contemporaries, and are few in number. By him are : 1794. Wicker Wickers and his consort Clara Smith ; — Patriotic Medal ; — 1787. Return of Prince William V. to The Hague; — 1788. Conclusion of the Act of Guarantee between the provinces of the Netherlands; — 1788. The Stadholder's household visits Brock in W...
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