LEONARDO DA VINCI (ltal.). A famous Painter, Architect, Sculptor, Scientist, Engineer, Mechanician and Musician, born at Vinci, near Empoli, in 1452; died at Cloux, near Amboise (France) on the 2nd of May 1519. Although no medallic work can directly be traced to Leonardo da Vinci, it is beyond doubt that he made his influence felt in this branch of art also, and, as we shall see, he designed the fine Testoni of Giovanni Galeazzo Maria Sforza and Ludovico Moro, which were engraved by Caradosso; furthermore, he is said to have excelled in Gem-engraving. A very brief sketch of this eminent artist's career finds therefore a place here. Leonardo da Vinci is one of the worthiest representatives of the Florentine school of painting and sculpture. He showed early a wonderful aptitude for art, and studied under Andrea del Verocchio, to whom he was taken by his father, about 1470, and with whom he remained until he was past twenty. Hisstudio companions were Perugino and Lorenzo di Credi. In 1472 he was received in the Company of Painters and obtained his first recorded commission in 1478. Having met with little success at Florence, he appears to have gone to Milan about 1487. In 1503 he was again at Florence, returning to Milan in 1506. In 1514-1515 he was residingin Rome. His great work, the famous "Cenacolo" or "Last Supper" was finished in 1498 ; he painted it in oil on the wall of the refectory of the Dominican convent of the Madonna delle Grazie ; it began to perish from the dampness of the wall almost as soon as it wasfinished, but fortunately the original sketches still exist. While living in Milan under the protection of Ludovico II Moro, he executed the colossal equestrian statue of Duke Francesco I., which was demolished by the French in 1499. On his return to Florence, he drew a cartoon from which Filippino painted the altar-piece of the monks of Servi. Subsequently, Leonardo da Vinci seems to have devoted his time principally to portraiture ; the best known works of this period are the " Mona Lisa" in the Louvre, Paris, completed about 1504 ; " La belle Ferronni?re ; the "Virgin of the Rocks", National Gallery, London, and another version in the Louvre; "St. John the Baptist", Louvre; St. Anne, Louvre; a cartoon of St. Anne in the Royal Academy, London, &c. He was also commissioned to paint a wall of the Council-hall at Florence, for which he made a cartoon of the "Battle of Anghiari", corresponding to the great cartoon of Michelangelo ; both are now lost. On the French occupation of Milan, Louis XII. appointed Leonardo Court-painter. In 1514, the artist accompanied Giuliano de' Medici to Rome, where Leo X. entrusted him with some work at the Vatican. He went to France in 1516, at the invitation of Francis I., and died at the Château de Cloux, aged about sixty-seven. Leonardo da Vinci was a man of imposing personal appearance; a portrait of him, by himself, is preserved in the Royal Library, Turin. He wrote a "Treatise on Painting", published in 1651, which has been widely translated. Among his many pupils, the most eminent were Bernardino Luini, Andrea Salaino, and Marco d'Oggione. The latter's copy of his Master's " Cenacolo " was reproduced by Raphael Morghen in his celebrated engraving published about 1800. Under LEONARDO DA MILANO we have noticed that a writer of 1502 eulogizes the talent of four Gem-engravers, among whom is probably Leonardo da Vinci (named there da Milano) and that he says they were "equal to any of the ancients in their profession". In a remarkable letter, written by Leonardo da Vinci to Ludovico II Moro, the artist mentions his various qualifications, and says : " I will also undertake any work in sculpture, in marble, in bronze, or in terra-cotta; likewise in painting I can do what can be done, as well as any man, be he who he may". Soon after 1480, when Ludovico Maria Sforza took the reins of Government in his nephew's name, the artist entered into the service of the Duke with a salary of five hundred crowns per annum, and he was consulted in every question concerning art. It is proved beyond doubt that Caradosso engraved the coins of the Dukes Giovanni Galeazzo Maria Sforza (1481), Giovanni Galeazzo Maria Sforza and the Regent Ludovico (1481-1494), and Ludovico Maria Sforza, called Il Moro (1494- 1499) from designs supplied by Leonardo da Vinci (Vide Fratelli Gnecchi, Le Monete di Milano, LXI). These coins consist, according to Rossi, of the following types : Giov. Gal. Maria Sforza, Doppio Testone d'Oro; — Multiple of the Testone d'argento. — Gio. Gal. Maria and Ludovico Maria Sforza, Al. Doppio Zecchino; — Zecchino ; — AR. Multiple of Testone ; — Testone (illustrated). — Ludovico Maria Sforza, Al. Doppio Testone ; — AR. Multiple of Testone; — Testone (illustrated). King states : "I have seen an enamelled pendant attributed to Da Vinci, and which certainly does bear his usual monogram. Cesare Borgia having appointed him his architect in 1502, L. da Vinci was thus actually brought into contact with the duke's physician, Camillo : besides, he had made Milan his home ever since entering Ludovico's service in 1483, which would explain the designation " Da Milano ". Bibliography. — Encyclopaedia Britannica, X. Edition, 1903. — Dictionary of Universal Biography. — E. Müntz, Léonard de Vinci. — Vasari, op. cit., III, VI. — Gnecchi, Le Monete di Milano. — King, Antique Gems and Rings, 1872.
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
LAVY, AMADEO
LAVY, AMADEO (Ital.). Medallist, and Mint-engraver at Turin, circ. 1796-1826 ; a son of Lorenzo Lavy and brother of Carlo Lavy, who were both employed in the same capacity at the Turin Mint. Amadeo Lavy usually signed his coins or medals either A. LAVY or A. L., and I believe those signed LAVY only are the work of his brother Carlo, or of the two in conjunction, as the Pattern Five Franc piece of BONAPARTE, PREMIER CONSUL, of An XI. The earliest piece bearing Amadeo's signature is the gold Maren...
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LAVY, AMADEO (Ital.). Medallist, and Mint-engraver at Turin, circ. 1796-1826 ; a son of Lorenzo Lavy and brother of Carlo Lavy, who were both employed in the same capacity at the Turin Mint. Amadeo Lavy usually signed his coins or medals either A. LAVY or A. L., and I believe those signed LAVY only are the work of his brother Carlo, or of the two in conjunction, as the Pattern Five Franc piece of BONAPARTE, PREMIER CONSUL, of An XI. The earliest piece bearing Amadeo's signature is the gold Maren...
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LAVY, CARLO
LAVY, CARLO (ltal.). Medallist, and Mint-engraver at Turin, born in 1765, died in 1813 ;a brother of Amadeo Lavy. He was appointed to the Mint in 1789, but after the French invasion of the Piedmontese territory and the constitution of the Cisalpine Republic, his brother Amadeo was entrusted with the cutting of the coindies, at the Turin Mint, 1801. Carlo Lavy executed several medals from designs by the painter Appiani, some of which celebrate Napoleon I. The two brothers sent in An XI (1803) a p...
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LAVY, CARLO (ltal.). Medallist, and Mint-engraver at Turin, born in 1765, died in 1813 ;a brother of Amadeo Lavy. He was appointed to the Mint in 1789, but after the French invasion of the Piedmontese territory and the constitution of the Cisalpine Republic, his brother Amadeo was entrusted with the cutting of the coindies, at the Turin Mint, 1801. Carlo Lavy executed several medals from designs by the painter Appiani, some of which celebrate Napoleon I. The two brothers sent in An XI (1803) a p...
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LAW
LAW (Brit.). Gem-engraver of the end of the eighteenth century and beginning of the nineteenth. The following works bear his signature: Head of Bacchant, carnelian; — Head of Herakles, carnelian ; — Head of Medusa ; — Head of Socrates ; — A term of Xenophon crowned with laurel; — Head of Lucretia, emerald; — Head of Seneca ; — Head of Julia, daughter of Titus, sapphire ; — Cameo, with head of Antinoüs ; — Bust of And. Marvel, Scotch poet ; — Cameo, bust of Sir Walter Raleigh ; — Cameo, bust of G...
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LAW (Brit.). Gem-engraver of the end of the eighteenth century and beginning of the nineteenth. The following works bear his signature: Head of Bacchant, carnelian; — Head of Herakles, carnelian ; — Head of Medusa ; — Head of Socrates ; — A term of Xenophon crowned with laurel; — Head of Lucretia, emerald; — Head of Seneca ; — Head of Julia, daughter of Titus, sapphire ; — Cameo, with head of Antinoüs ; — Bust of And. Marvel, Scotch poet ; — Cameo, bust of Sir Walter Raleigh ; — Cameo, bust of G...
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LAW, JOHN
LAW, JOHN (Brit.). Financier, born at Edinburgh in 1681, died at Venice in 1729. He was made Comptroller-general of the finances of France, upon the strength of a scheme for establishing a bank, and an East India and a Mississipi Company, by the profits of which the national debt of France was to be paid off. Law's bank, which was opened in 1716, was declared a Royal bank in 1718, but in 1720 this fabric of false credit fell to the ground, spreading ruin throughout the country. Law initiated the...
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LAW, JOHN (Brit.). Financier, born at Edinburgh in 1681, died at Venice in 1729. He was made Comptroller-general of the finances of France, upon the strength of a scheme for establishing a bank, and an East India and a Mississipi Company, by the profits of which the national debt of France was to be paid off. Law's bank, which was opened in 1716, was declared a Royal bank in 1718, but in 1720 this fabric of false credit fell to the ground, spreading ruin throughout the country. Law initiated the...
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