MILANO, PIETRO DA (Ital.). Milanese Sculptor and Medallist, who flourished circ. 1450-1473. H. de La Tour has established that this artist is the same person as PIETRO DI GIOVANNI DA VARESE or DA COMO, nephew of Baltramo di Martino da Varese, sculptor and architect. Pietro da Milano, whose name occurs also as PIETRO DE MARTINO DA MILANO, or PETRUS DE MEDIOLANO, was engaged in the service of king René of Anjou, at about the same time as Francesco Laurana (1430-1501). He modelled and cast six Portrait-medals of his Patron and members of the Royal family; these are all signed: OPVS.PETRI.DE. MEDIOLANO. — René of Anjou, king of Naples, and Jeanne de Laval, his consort, 1462 ; obv. Jugate busts to r. R. King René seated amidst various personages in front of a public building; diam. 104 mill, (illustrated) ; — René of Anjou, 1461; obv. RENATVS.DEI.GRACIA etc.; R. MCCCCLXI.OPVS.PETRVS.DE. MEDIOLANO. — R.I.— EN.VN. Within laurelwreath, a purse suspended from four strings; diam. 84 mill. (illustrated) ; — Margaret of Anjou, daughter of René, and consort of Henry VI. of England ; obv. SAGAX.IMBVTA etc. Bust to r.; R. PRVDENTIA EST.SVPER.ONIA.VIRTVS. — OPVS. PETRI. DE MEDIOLANO Prudence standing to r., holding stick around which a serpent is entwined, and in the left a mirror; diam. 86 mill, (illustrated) ; — Ferry II. of Lorraine, count of Vaudemont, and son-in-law of king René ; obv. FEDERICVS . D . LOTORINGIA.COMES. VAULDEMONTIS . SENESCALLVS. PROVINCE. — OPVS . PETRI . DE . MEDIOLANO. Bust to r. ; R. The Count on horseback; diam. 80 mill. ; — René of Anjou, Portraitmedallionuniface, with bust to 1., and legend : HIC. RENATS. LIVS. REGVM . SCICILIE . AVDIACIOR . AVO. ET . CETERA ; diam. 86 mill.; — Another, Portrait-medallion, uniface, with bust to r., and legend : RENATVS.DEI.GRACIA.IHERVSALEM.ET. SICILIE. REX. ET. CETERA ;diam. 90 mill. Bolzenthal adds to the above a Portrait-medal of Pope Sixtus IV., dated 1472, of which however no specimen has come down to us, and Friedländer doubts the accuracy of the statement. Pietro da Milano, says Maxe-Werly, followed king René in the Barrois, and made a stay in 1463 at Bar-le-Duc, where he was engaged in sculpture work for the church of Saint-Maxe and for the castle. This artist is the author of the triumphal arch of Castel Nuovo, one of the noblest monuments of the Renaissance at Naples, which was begun in 1455 by king Alfonso to commemorate his capture of the city, and completed under his successor. All Pietro da Milano's medals are modelled and cast. They do not rank amongst the best Renaissance works of the kind, but they have assuredly their distinct merit. Friedländer has accused the artist of servile imitation and, commenting on the reverses of his medals, he sums up by the statement that " they likewise lack in beauty and show a departure from the noble simplicity of Italian medals. " M. de la Tour in his monograph, " Pietro da Milano", 1893, has endeavoured and succeeded to prove that the artist had a style of his own and that he is worthy of a better notice. " Les médailles de Pierre de Milan, " says he, " furent exécutées probablement ? la Cour du roi René, les unes en Provence et les autres en Touraine. Elles sont, avec quelques-unes de celles de Laurana, les premi?res pi?ces ? portrait modelées en France, et certainement les premiers monuments ? date certaine exécutés dans notre pays par des sculpteurs italiens, ? ce moment o? la gravure en médaille se confine chez nous dans la servile imitation des monnaies. A la mâle beauté de l'?uvre et ? sa nouveauté, on peut juger de l'influence que Pierre de Milan a pu exercer dans notre pays. " In another place the same writer comments further : " Pierre de Milan, cela est certain, ne cherche pas ? embellir son mod?le, et il voit la nature telle quelle ; mais il la rend largement, puissamment, et il sait animer son oeuvre d'un souffle de vie. Il veut ?tre exact et son ébauchoir va jusqu'? préciser un petit détail, une verrue, sur cette face courtaude du bon roi René ; mais il sait admirablement subordonner le détail ? l'ensemble ; cet esprit pénétrant s'entend merveilleusement ? dégager les traits individuels et les plus caractéristiques. Passionné de la vérité, amoureux de la vie, il ne tombera jamais dans la mi?vrerie, et si la facture paraît parfois d'une énergie un peu farouche, elle reste toujours aisée, souple, vibrante et fi?rc. Et quelle habileté dans la disposition des silhouettes et des lignes, dans l'arrangement des détails du costume!" "Un autre monument d'orf?vrerie dont nous voulons parler nous transporte ? plus de trois si?cles, en pleine Renaissance italienne. C'est une plaquette d'argent ciselé, don généreux de M. Alfred André, l'eminent restaurateur d'objets d'art. Elle représente sur une place entourée de palais, d'édifices ? coupoles, un Miracle du Christ debout devant un paralytique. Nous connaissons de cette plaquette d'argent, un double en plaquette de bronze (collection Gustave Dreyfus), dont s'occup?rent, en ignorant la premi?re, MM. Eug?ne Muntz et Émile Molinier. Le premier l'attribuait ? Caradosso, le second ? Pietro da Milano, dont il citait la médaille du roi René d'Anjou, au revers de laquelle est représenté un édifice religieux assez analogue ? celui de la plaquette. Il est vrai que, dans une médaille de Caradosso, celle de Bramante, un édifice du m?me genre est représenté, qui est peut-?tre, comme dans la plaquette, Saint-Pierre, de Rome; mais il apparaît surmonté d'une coupole qui n'existe pas dans la plaquette. On en pourrait déduire que Caradosso connut l'édifice dans un état d'ach?vement que n'aurait pas connu l'artiste de la plaquette. L'attribution qu'en fit ? Pietro da Milano M. Émile Molinier me paraît donc des plus plausibles. L'état dans lequel se trouve cette plaquette d'argent, si finement et si délicatement ciselée me semble provisoire. Était-elle préparée pour recevoir une application d'émail translucide qu'elle n'a jamais reçue, et pour prendre place ensuite dans un encadrement tr?s riche en or, peut-?tre plaque de reliure, o? des médaillons d'émaux translucides auraient augmenté encore la beauté de l'objet?" (Gaston Migeon, Les Arts, Mars 1906). Bibliography. — Bolzenthal, op. cit. — N. Rondot et H. De La Tour,op. cit. — Armand, op. cit. — Heiss, op. cit. — Friedländer, op. cit. — C. von Fabriczy, op. cit. — E. M?ntz, Les Arts ? la Cour des Papes (1498-1 503). — H. de la Tour, Pietro da Milano, Revue numismatique, 1893, pp. 85-110. — I. B. Supino, op. cit. — Maxe-Werly, Un sculpteur italien ? Bar-le-Duc, en 1463.
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
MENGANTI, ALESSANDRO
MENGANTI, ALESSANDRO (ltal.). Mint-engraver at Bologna, appointed on 18. January 1573, in succession to Gerolamo Faccioli; he was still in office in 1585, and he cut the dies of all the Bolognese coins of Gregory XIII. (1572-1585) and possibly some of Sixtus V. By Menganti, who was also a famous Sculptor, is the statue of Pope Gregory XIII. in the public square of Bologna; and other works in marble and bronze. He was a pupil of Michel Angelo, and is said to have avoided the exaggerations of this...
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MENGANTI, ALESSANDRO (ltal.). Mint-engraver at Bologna, appointed on 18. January 1573, in succession to Gerolamo Faccioli; he was still in office in 1585, and he cut the dies of all the Bolognese coins of Gregory XIII. (1572-1585) and possibly some of Sixtus V. By Menganti, who was also a famous Sculptor, is the statue of Pope Gregory XIII. in the public square of Bologna; and other works in marble and bronze. He was a pupil of Michel Angelo, and is said to have avoided the exaggerations of this...
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MENGER, JOHAN PHILIP
MENGER, JOHAN PHILIP (Dutch). Medallist and Coin-engraver, born at Utrecht in 1818, died there on 20. September 1895. He was a pupil of David van der Kellen and studied also sculpture under Louis Royer at the Royal Academy of Sculpture at Amsterdam. At the age of eighteen or nineteen, he engraved his first medals, in commemoration of P. C. Hooft, and Prince William George Frederick of Nassau, who died at Padua in 1799. In 1839 the young artist obtained a silver medal, and in 1845 he was appointe...
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MENGER, JOHAN PHILIP (Dutch). Medallist and Coin-engraver, born at Utrecht in 1818, died there on 20. September 1895. He was a pupil of David van der Kellen and studied also sculpture under Louis Royer at the Royal Academy of Sculpture at Amsterdam. At the age of eighteen or nineteen, he engraved his first medals, in commemoration of P. C. Hooft, and Prince William George Frederick of Nassau, who died at Padua in 1799. In 1839 the young artist obtained a silver medal, and in 1845 he was appointe...
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MENGER, JOHAN PHILIP MATHIAS
MENGER, JOHAN PHILIP MATHIAS (Dutch.). Medallist and Coinengraver, born at Utrecht, 21. April 1845, studied sculpture under his father, and G. Crayevanger. and was taken as apprentice at the Royal Mint, 2, March 1862. In 1864 he received a government grant to study sculpture and medal-engraving at the Royal Academy of Arts of Munich, where he worked under Prof. Wiedmann; Riez, Chief-engraver at the Bavarian Mint; and Birnböck, Court-medallist to the Czar Alexander II. He returned to his native c...
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MENGER, JOHAN PHILIP MATHIAS (Dutch.). Medallist and Coinengraver, born at Utrecht, 21. April 1845, studied sculpture under his father, and G. Crayevanger. and was taken as apprentice at the Royal Mint, 2, March 1862. In 1864 he received a government grant to study sculpture and medal-engraving at the Royal Academy of Arts of Munich, where he worked under Prof. Wiedmann; Riez, Chief-engraver at the Bavarian Mint; and Birnböck, Court-medallist to the Czar Alexander II. He returned to his native c...
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MENGIN, ANTONIO
MENGIN, ANTONIO (Portug.). Medallist, and Mint-engraver at Lisbon, 1721-1772. He was born in 1690, and died in 1772. On a document, dated 1. April 1727, he is styled Abridor geraldas medalhas e cunhos de moedas. Amongst his productions are commemorative medals of the Portuguese Campaign and participation in the War against the Turks, and Miraculous escape from an Ambush of King Don José, 1758. Mengin's artistic merit is unquestionable, says Arag?o. He had two assistants at the Mint : Bernardo ...
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MENGIN, ANTONIO (Portug.). Medallist, and Mint-engraver at Lisbon, 1721-1772. He was born in 1690, and died in 1772. On a document, dated 1. April 1727, he is styled Abridor geraldas medalhas e cunhos de moedas. Amongst his productions are commemorative medals of the Portuguese Campaign and participation in the War against the Turks, and Miraculous escape from an Ambush of King Don José, 1758. Mengin's artistic merit is unquestionable, says Arag?o. He had two assistants at the Mint : Bernardo ...
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