LORENZO DE' MEDICI, surnamed the Magnificent, Ruler of Florence, 1469-1492, and the greatest Patron of Art that ever lived. He gathered around him all the most renowned painters, sculptors, gem-engravers, literati and poets of his time. At his court at Florence, Michel Angelo essayed the first strokes of his chisel, and many artists, amongst them, Brunelleschi and Donatello, owed their prosperity to the protection of this enlightened Prince. "Laurent", says Müntz (Histoire de l'Art, vol. I, p. 56), " est l'arbitre du go?t ; c'est lui qui dirige l'évolution supr?me de la Renaissance florentine, et dont les artistes ou les amateurs de l'ltalie enti?re sollicitent respectueusement les arr?ts ; l'homme d'initiative qui découvre les talents nouveaux et l'amateur prodigue dont les largesses peuplent Florence de chefs-d'oeuvre. " " Lorenzo's intellectual powers were of exceptional strength and versatility. He could speak with equal fluency on painting, sculpture, music, philosophy and poetry. But his crowning superiority over every other Maecenas known to history lay in his active participation in the intellectual labours that he promoted (Encycl. Brit.). Lorenzo de' Medici was an enthusiastic collector, both of antiques as well as of gems cut in his own day. The finest cameo in his collection was, perhaps, the Tazza Farnese, which is now in the museum at Naples. Many of the gems which belonged to him, and are now dispersed chiefly in the museums of Naples, Florence, and Paris, bear the inscription "LAVR MED". But not only was he by far "the most celebrated, as he was the most powerful and the richest", says Davenport (Cameos, 1900, p. 52), "but he was also probably a real lover and judge of first-rate art for its own sake. He gave advice and directions to medallists and gem-engravers, showing what keen interest he took in that articular branch of art. Giovanni delle Corniole was one of Lorenzo's favourite cameo-and intaglio-cutters, and one of his pupils, Domenico di Polo, executed a fine cameo-portrait of the Prince (illustrated), which is preserved in the Cabinet des Médailles of the Biblioth?que nationale, Paris. Bibliography. — Vide also Vol. I., Introd.
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
LÉVÉQUE, PIERRE
LÉVÉQUE, PIERRE (French). Sculptor and Die-sinker at Paris, Palais Royal; born at Beauvais in 1780; died at Passy in 1845. One of his daughters married the celebrated engraver L. Ch. Bouvet. He is said to have cut several medals commemorating the Revolution of July 1830. By him are also Portrait-medals : Giuseppe Blangini, Italian composer (signed : LEVEQUE SC) ; — Rev. J. C. Lavater (3 var.); — Birth of Louise Marie Thér?se de France, 1819, etc., and Jetons : Mines de charbon, Dep du Nord. — So...
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LÉVÉQUE, PIERRE (French). Sculptor and Die-sinker at Paris, Palais Royal; born at Beauvais in 1780; died at Passy in 1845. One of his daughters married the celebrated engraver L. Ch. Bouvet. He is said to have cut several medals commemorating the Revolution of July 1830. By him are also Portrait-medals : Giuseppe Blangini, Italian composer (signed : LEVEQUE SC) ; — Rev. J. C. Lavater (3 var.); — Birth of Louise Marie Thér?se de France, 1819, etc., and Jetons : Mines de charbon, Dep du Nord. — So...
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LEVICK, RUBY
LEVICK, RUBY (Brit.). Contemporary Sculptor, residing in London, who at the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1899 showed a Portrait-medallion of W. B. Rickman. "Miss Levick", says Mr. Spielmann in British Sculpture and Sculptors of to-day", who first exhibited at the Academy in 1893, seems to have made a special study of youth at sport. Her admirably arranged bronze statuette-groups of " Boys fishing", " Boys wrestling " and " Foot-ball " are all clever and well modelled; the last named composition i...
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LEVICK, RUBY (Brit.). Contemporary Sculptor, residing in London, who at the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1899 showed a Portrait-medallion of W. B. Rickman. "Miss Levick", says Mr. Spielmann in British Sculpture and Sculptors of to-day", who first exhibited at the Academy in 1893, seems to have made a special study of youth at sport. Her admirably arranged bronze statuette-groups of " Boys fishing", " Boys wrestling " and " Foot-ball " are all clever and well modelled; the last named composition i...
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LEVILLAIN, FERDINAND
LEVILLAIN, FERDINAND (French). Contemporary Sculptor and Medallist, born at Paris (Passy); pupil of Lequien and Jouffroy. He first began to exhibit in 1861. In 1872, he was rewarded with a medal of the second class; a medal of the first class in 1884; a silver medal at the Universal Exhibition of 1889 ; and made a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1892. He died on the 22nd January 1905. For many years he had been a member of the Jury of the Salon. A number of his productions are exhibited at the...
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LEVILLAIN, FERDINAND (French). Contemporary Sculptor and Medallist, born at Paris (Passy); pupil of Lequien and Jouffroy. He first began to exhibit in 1861. In 1872, he was rewarded with a medal of the second class; a medal of the first class in 1884; a silver medal at the Universal Exhibition of 1889 ; and made a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1892. He died on the 22nd January 1905. For many years he had been a member of the Jury of the Salon. A number of his productions are exhibited at the...
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LEYGEBE
LEYGEBE or LEIGEBE, GOTTFRIED (Germ.). Medallist of the seventeenth century; born at Freistadt (Silesia) in 1630, learned the art of die-cutting at Nuremberg in 1645, worked at Dresden, and in 1668 was appointed Mint-engraver at Berlin, where he remained until his death in 1683. He attained an early celebrity as already in 1660 the Nuremberg copper-plate engraver Andreas Greiff had made his portrait. As a Sculptor in iron, Leygebe is not only the first but also the most famous ; his statuettes c...
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LEYGEBE or LEIGEBE, GOTTFRIED (Germ.). Medallist of the seventeenth century; born at Freistadt (Silesia) in 1630, learned the art of die-cutting at Nuremberg in 1645, worked at Dresden, and in 1668 was appointed Mint-engraver at Berlin, where he remained until his death in 1683. He attained an early celebrity as already in 1660 the Nuremberg copper-plate engraver Andreas Greiff had made his portrait. As a Sculptor in iron, Leygebe is not only the first but also the most famous ; his statuettes c...
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