Who was PASTORINO ?

PASTORINO (PASTORINO DE' PASTORINI) (Ital.). Painter, Coinengraver, and Medallist, son of Giovanni Michele de' Pastorini, a shoemaker of the neighbourhood of Siena, was born about 1508. He died at Florence, 6. December 1592, and was buried there in Santa Maria Maggiore. In his early years he was a pupil of Guillaume Marcillat, a celebrated French painter on glass, who ended his life in that town. Between 1531 and 1548 he was often employed in that art both at Siena and Rome. Among his works of this kind is the great window over the door of the cathedral of Siena. “ Not until much later", says Von Fabriczy, "did it occur to him to model portraits in wax, which he afterwards painted, and to try his hand also in casting medals and engraving dies. From 1552 onwards we find him at the mints of Parma, Reggio d'Emilia, Ferrara (where he was Master of the Mint, 1554- 1559, under Ercole II.) and Novellara (1574), until in 1576, after a short stay at Bologna, he entered the service of the Grand-Duke Francesco of Tuscany as " maestro di stucchi " (stucco- worker), with a yearly income of 120 ducats. He never again left Florence during his life-time, and died on 6. December 1592, about 84 years old. In the number of his medals, the dates of which lie between 1548 and 1578 (which does not, however, exclude the possibility that other undated medals may have been produced both earlier and later), he surpasses all other companions in his craft ; we are acquainted with 190 pieces (of which about two dozen are merely attributed to him), and the number is constantly increased by others coming to light. The greater portion of them are signed with his initial, and almost all are devoid of reverses. He herein gives expression to a change, which had been introduced into the character and object of medals. The custom was abandoned of associating the portrait with the attributes or achievements in which the person depicted had outshone his contemporaries, or with any act of his life that would have assured him the remembrance of after generations. Even without such qualifications men considered themselves worthy of being immortalized in bronze, and demanded from the medal nothing more than a portrait. The medal, in fulfilling this demand, now sacrificed the more dignified and monumental stylistic treatment, which we so often encounter in the masterpieces of the Quattrocento, to a more intimate portraiture of the individual. Not only does it reproduce the portrait in a version as close as possible to life, but it seeks by the most accurate fidelity in the details of dress and ornament to apprehend and bring out its connection with the world around. This character, besides a highly developed feeling for grace, attractiveness, and sensuous charm in the presentation of the likeness, as well as of taste in arrangement, impresses itself on the works of Pastorino and explains their popularity both in former and in present times. On the other hand, they almost entirely lack the depth of conception, the force, the feeling of throbbing vitality, which so thrill us in his predecessors. “ What a portrait! but, alas ! a portrait only, " are we tempted to exclaim in the presence of his highest creations, which — and this is equally characteristic both of the period and of the artist — for the most part celebrate female beauty in named and unnamed, known and unknown models. The few examples which we have chosen from the works of the master may serve to elucidate and justify what we have said. " The busts of the two great celebrities Ariosto and Titian belong to his best works, thanks to their unassuming simplicity and the absence of that affected pose which detracts from the impression conveyed by so many of Pastorino's male portraits. The softly defined head of Atalanta Donati, a Sienese poetess of the middle of the sixteenth century, shows how the artist occasionally allowed himself to be influenced by the example of antique gems. On the other hand the matronly head of Girolama Orsini, wife of Pierluigi Farnese, the dissolute son of Paul III., and first Duke of Parma and Piacenza, with the picturesquely draped widow's veil over her head, has the appearance of an impression from the life; and that of the otherwise unknown Beatrice da Siena is entirely modern both in conception and costume. The last named medal has, moreover, a reverse, utterly banal, it is true. In the gentle, innocent countenance of the youth Battista Guarini, we can scarcely foresee the man who was to become the refined author of the formerly much admired Pastor Fido.... " (Italian Medals, English edition, pp. 145-149). Vasari says of Pastorino that " he has copied all the world and persons of all kinds, great nobles, distinguished artists, and persons unknown or of low degree..." (Mrs Fosters transl., III, p. 484). "Pastorino", remarks Mr. Keary, "confined himself almost exclusively to portraiture and very nearly perfected this branch of the art. A very large number of his works are known, chiefly lead proofs without reverses, cast, but so finely that they seem at first sight as if they had been struck. Delicacy rather than vigour is the artist's forte; he succeeds well with portraits of women and boys. " (Guide, p. XVI.) The best known medals of Pastorino are : Antilia of Siena ; — Lodovico Ariosto (illustrated); — George of Armagnac, 1554, archbishop of Toulouse, 1562, and Avignon, 1577; — Francesco Baiardi, of Parma, 1556; — Julia Barattieri, wife of Francesco Baiardi, 1556; — Evangelista Baroni, 1557 ; — Baldassare Basta; — Beatrice of Siena (illustrated); — Cornelio Bentivoglio, 1557. This medal exists with five varieties of reverses, which are not by Pastorino; — Annibale Bentivoglio, 1559; — Laura Sessi de Boiardi; — Michele Bonelli, 1570, cardinal (illustrated); — Gianfrancesco Boniperti ; — Alessandro Bonzagna, and his second wife Cicilia, 1553 ; — Caterina, and her son, Flaminio Bonzagni ; — Charles of Bourbon- Vendôme, cardinal, 1555 ; — Paolo Emilio Brenieri, 1559; — Costanza Buti ; — Leonora Calcagnini (1524- † 1595) ; — Antonio Caraffa, 1556; — Carlo Caraffa, 1557; — Camillo Castiglione, 1561 ; — Virginia Mazzatosta de Castro; — Flaminia Cocceia; — Girolama Colonna; R. Pudicitia; — Cornelia Colonna Savelli ; — Contessa of Siena ; — Cornelia Siciliana ; R. Truth unveiling herself; — Tiberio Crispi ; R. O ?O?O? ?ANTA ?OY?OI— P. Time in chariot drawn by a bull and horse; — Francesco Cruciano ; — Atalante Donati (obv. illustrated) ; — Ercole II. d'Este, fourth Duke of Ferrara, Quarter Scudo, 1559, signed P. ; R svperanda omnis fortvna. Patience standing ; — Eighth Scudo, 1559; R. tva dextera' dne. St. George and the Dragon ; signed P ; — Eighth Scudo, 1554; R. Standing figure of Patron Saint; signed P; — Eighth Scudo, undated; R. exaltavit' me' dextera' dne. Shield of arms ; signed P. To these coins, which all bear Pastorino's signature, should probably be added many others, unsigned, which the artist engraved during his mintmastership at Ferrara, from 1554 to 1559; — Ippolito II. d'Este, cardinal of Ferrara, 1554; — Another, undated, and without signature; — Alfonso II. d'Este, fifth Duke of Ferrara, 1556; — Another, undated, and without signature; — Half Scudo, 1564. R. ANIMI SVPER OMNIA : — Quarter Scudo, 1565. Both coins are signed : P; — Francesco d'Este, Marquis of Massa, 1554; — Niccolo d'Este, 1559; — Alfonso d'Este, Marquis of Montecchio, 1575 ; — Giulia della Rovere d'Este, consort of Alfonso d'Este ; —Cesare d'Este, first Duke of Modena, 1575; Alfonso d'Este, Marquis of Este, 1573 ; — Luigi d'Este, cardinal of Ferrara, 1561 ; — Another, undated and unsigned; — Eleonora and Lucrezia d'Este (medal probably executed in 1552); — Lucrezia de' Medici, first consort of Alfonso II., 1558; — Barbara of Austria d'Este, 1565 ; — Annibale d'Este, 1556 (illustrated); — Isabella Rammi d'Este, 1556 ; — Girolama Orsini, Duchess of Parma and Piacenza, and her third son, Cardinal Ranuzio Farnese (obv. illustrated) ; — Alessandro Farnese, 1556; — Ottavio Farnese, and his consort Margaret of Austria, 1552 ; — Margaret of Austria; signed P ; — Another, dated 1557 ; — Alessandro Farnese, third Duke of Parma, and his consort, Mary of Portugal, 1566; — Felice of Siena; — Alessandro Fiaschi, of Ferrara ; — Girolamo Florati, of Ferrara ; — Fausta Forteguerri; — Pietro Fortini ; — Raimond de Fourquevaulx, 1556; — Henry II., King of France, 1554; — Sigismondo Fregose ; — Vitale Gemelichio, 1559 ; — Genca; — Giulio Giordani, 1555 ; — Giulia of Bologna, 1555; — Contessina Goletti, 1555; — Margarita Paleologo Gonzaga, consort of Duke Federigo II. of Mantua, 1561 ; — Guglielmo Gonzaga, third Duke of Gonzaga, 1561 ; — Eleonora of Austria, consort of Guglielmo I. of Gonzaga, 1561 (illustrated); — Camillo Gonzaga, Count of Novellara ; — Alfonso Gonzaga, Count of Novellara; — Lodovico Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers, 1559 ; — Aurelio Grimaldi, of Reggio, 1555 ; — Giulio Cesare Grossi ; — Buonaventura Gruamonti, 1557 (illustrated); — Alessandro Battista Guarini, 1556; — Battista Guarini, 1555; — Balthasar Guttierez, 1559; — Leonard de Harrach, 1558; — Isabella of Padua ; — Livia Landucci ; — Alberto Lollio, poet of Florence, 1562; R. Caduceus; — Another; R. obviis vlnis. Fortune escaping (illustrated) ; — Ursula Lopez, 1555 ; — Francis of Lorraine, Duke of Guise, 1557 ; — Charles of Lorraine, cardinal, 1555 ; — Louis of Lorraine, cardinal of Guise, 1560; — Lucrezia; — Ippolito Malaguzzi, 1554; — Livia Marzi ; — Camilla Martelli de' Medici; — Francesco de' Medici, second Grand Duke of Tuscany ; — Bianca Capello de' Medici, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, 1578; — Giangaleazzo Roscio de Monte, of Lucca, 1571 ; — Francis of Montmorency, 1556 ; — Garcia Nasi, 1555 (legend in Hebrew); — Angelo Niccolini, cardinal, 1555; — Girolamo Novario, 1557; — Giovanni Antonio Novello, 1560; — Abramo Emmanuele Nurcia, 1557; — Lucrezia Salviati Orsini, 1571; — Vicino Orsini; — Egidio Pamfili; — Pompeo Pendalia; — Bartolommeo Pendalia, 1564; — Isabella Manfro de' Pepoli, 1571 (illustrated); — Camilla Petrucci ; — Philena, of Perugia ; — Elena Sforza Piccolomini ; — Virginia Piccolomini ; — Renea d'Este, consort of Pico della Mirandola, 1555; — Bona Sforza, Queen of Sigismund I. of Poland, 1556; — Another; R. fortis ' bona ' prvdens ' a ' d ' mdxl ; — Lodovica Felicina Rossi, 1557 ; — Giulio Feltrio della Rovere, cardinal of Urbino, 1559; — Vittoria Farnese della Rovere, Duchess of Urbino; — Isabella Ruggieri; — Girolama Sacrata, of Ferrara, four varieties, two of which are dated 1560 (one illustrated); — Barbara Sacrata ; — Gianmaria Salizin ; — Giudita Santi, of Siena; — Girolamo Farnese of Sanvitale, 1556 (illustrated). This medal exists with various reverses which are not by Pastorino ; — Battista Saraceo, 1556; — Gasparo Scaruffi, 1554 ; — Fulvia Spannocchi Sergardi, 1552; — Sforza Sforza, Count of Santa Fiora, 1555; — Mariano Sozzini, 1555; — Isabella Spagiari (illustrated); — Girolamo Spannocchi, of Siena, 1548; — Maria Martelli of Suares ; — Galeazzo Tassoni d'Este. This medal occurs with two reverses which are not by Pastorino ; — Tiziano Vecelli ; — Aurelia Tolomei, of Siena ; — Battista Tolomei ; — Girolamo Tolomei ; — Tullia Tolomei ; — Giovanna Torelli ; — Lelio Torelli, 1555 ; — Ercole Trotti, knight of Malta; — Ginevra Trotti, 1556 ; — Isabella Negrisoli Trotti, 1556; — Nicolosa Bacci de Vasari, 1555 ; — Gianbattista Vecchi, 1555, of Siena ; — Virginia Vecchi, of Siena; — Baldassare Vigarani, 1544; — Francesco Visdomini, 1564; — Ercole Vitozzi ; — Federigo Zucchero, 1578; — Sixteen Female Portraits (described in Heiss under nos 143-159); — Mad. Artemitia, of Siena (in Uffizi Gallery) ; — Alfonso II. d'Este, fifth Duke of Ferrara ; — Margaret of Austria (a variety at Florence in the Uffizi Gallery); — Francesco de' Medici, 1572 ; — Francesco de' Medici and Joan of Austria; — Augus. Rig. Ord. Mi. E. D., 1557; — Antonio Pucci; — Archduke Charles of Styria; — René, Count of Challant, and Sovereign Lord of Valangin (Neuchâtel) (? Vide Revue suisse de num., XIII; art. by M. Georges Gallet) ; — Mario Ruffini († 1548); — Claudius de Valle and his wife (34 mill.) ; — Lelio Tolomei (35 mill.); — Marcantonio Borghesi, father of Paul V. ; — Jean d' Avanson, ambassador to the court of Paul III. (signed : P.); — Cassan Ciaussi (.1556 .P.); — Bernardino Boiardi (a companion medal to that of Laura Sessi de' Boiardi) ; — Girolamo, count of Corbiara; — Francesco I., second Grand Duke of Tuscany (.P. 1579); — Antonio Cortesi of San Grimignano, 1552 (R. Fable of Phaeton); — Francisco Parolaro (.P. 1553). The last eleven medals, some of which are unsigned, were- published recently by Mr G. F. Hill. Beside these the following unsigned medals are ascribed to Pastorino, from similarity of style and treatment : Annibale Bornati ; — Marc Antonio Caverzago, 1555; — Camilla Sforza Ferrero ; — Giovanni Franckaert, 1563 ; — Giovanni Ronchegalli — Lucrezia Romana (2 var.) ; — Isabella di Luna; — Giulio de' Medici. Müntz states that beside the coins of Ferrara, above mentioned, Pastorino prepared the dies for the Ducal coins of Ottavio Farnese from 1552 to 1554. These are described in Zanetti's work on the Coins of Parma. A Half Testoon of 1552 has on obv. octavivs. far.par.e.plac.dvx. Bust of Ottavio to r. ; beneath: a.. 1552; R. - PA?IA- ?E?EITA - XA?E?H?EP - EOYZA. Hercules to 1. in front of a mountain. Duke Ottavio Farnese had projected to establish a Mint at Parma under the direction of Angelo Fraschini of Siena and appointed Pastorino, who was then residing at Reggio d'Emilia, Mint-engraver. At the Borghesi Sale, Paris (May 1908) a medal of Ercole II. d'Este (1546), obv. Bust to r. ; R. mihi vindictam et ego retribvam. The Duke, as Hercules, following a warrior, fetched 340 frs. In the same sale were a rare Biancone of Ercole II., and a Colombina, by the same artist, struck both for Ferrara. To Pastorino is due the invention of a particular paste for the reproduction of hair and skin in wax medallions. His name occurs in the Accounts of the Papal Mint at Rome, 1541, 43, 45-48, for various paintings on glass. Paul III. entrusted him with the execution of several stained glass windows for the Vatican. At Florence he painted the Triumph of Petrarca on a circular piece of furniture for Piero de' Medici (now in the Uffizi Gallery). Plon describes a Portrait-medallion in coloured wax of Francesco de' Medici, by Pastorino (Benvenuto Cellini, p. 4). Amongst similar productions by this artist I could only find a record of the following : Duke Ottavio Farnese; — Paolo Vitelli ; — Ercole II., Duke of Ferrara; — Alfonso II., Duke of Ferrara; — Barbara, Archduchess of Austria ; — Lucrezia d'Este, Duchess of Urbino ; — Giovanni de Mendoza, etc. In a recent article by Mr. G. F. Hill (Burlington Magazine, IX, 408-412) on some ' Medals by Pastorino da Siena' the writer says: "Where an artist of finer qualities would have suffered under the strain of over-production, Pastorino, with his extraordinary talent for direct and obvious yet withal delicate portraiture, was easily able to satisfy the steady demand for his medals. Their superficial grace won them an extraordinary popularity, and he wasted little or no time in devising the allegorical reverses for which he seems to have had no aptitude.... Pastorino's medals, with a few exceptions, fall, roughly speaking, into two classes. The larger consists of medals with a pearled border placed on a raised beading which encloses the field. They are somewhat more ambitious than the rest, are on the average of considerably greater diameter, and are more frequently signed and dated. They go down as late as 1578 or 1579 and in no case, so far as I know, bear dates earlier than 1552. One of them, however, with the portrait of TullioTolomei, itself undated, is proved to be not later than 1551... The medals of the other class have no border other than a plain line, but common characteristics are found in their generally small diameter, and in a line (sometimes two lines) incised with compasses, guiding or enclosing the lettering of the circular inscription. These lines have all the appearance of having been incised before the bust was modelled; indeed it would be difficult if the bust were already modelled to use the compasses without spoiling it, and it is quite possible that the bust was modelled separately from the field of the medal and then applied to it. The existence of several medals of the same period (some perhaps by Pastorino himself) with the incised lines, but without any lettering, suggests that the lettering was sometimes added in the mould... These medals with the incised lines, and others of the same style, are very seldom signed, and still more seldom dated. The portrait of Girolamo Spannochi is signed and dated 1540... A small group of medals has neither the pearled border nor the incised lines. To this group belong the portraits of Alessandro Bonzagni (1553), Gasparo Scaruffa (1554) and Baldassaro Vigarani (1554). — The medals of the less pretending class are the earlier... Those of the latter period of the artist's career are wonderfully clever pieces of portraiture, but they lack, in many cases, the subtlety and refinement of his earlier work. " " Master Micheli, called Pastorino of Siena," writes Bolzenthal, "is chiefly known by the invention of a durable gypsum, with which he modelled coloured Portrait-medallions direct from nature to the number of some thousands ; he also carved in wood and cast in bronze. He worked a great deal from designs of Pierino del Vaga, and Vasari gives him great credit for his medals. " E. Müntz says : "Si les médailles de Cellini et de Leoni ne l'emportent en rien sur celles de leurs contemporains, celles de Pastorino sont aussi fermées que pénétrantes, d'une facture tout ensemble étoffe et souple, précise et pleine de distinction ; c'est le Bronzino de l'art du médailleur. " (Histoire de I'Art). “ Le nombre des médailles connues de Pastorino s'él?ve déj? ? pr?s de deux cents, et nous sommes loin certainement de les connaître toutes. Elles sont remarquables par la pureté de leur dessin, la richesse de leur composition et l'habileté savante de leur modelé. Aussi fut-il le médailleur préféré de la société élégante italienne du troisi?me quart du XVIe si?cle. " (Heiss, op. cit., p. 98). Bibliography. — A. Heiss, Les Médailleurs de la Renaissance, 1892. — C. F. Keary, Italian Medals, 1879. — Ibid., A Guide to the Exhibition of Italian Medals in the British Museum, 1893. — Blanchet, op. cit. — Dr Eug. Merzbacher, Kunst- Medaillen-Katalog, 1900. — Bolzenthal, op. cit. — Corn, von Fabriczy, Italian Medals, Eng. transl., 1904. — Armand, Médailleurs italiens, 1883-87. — I. B. Supino, Il Medagliere Mediceo, Firenze, 1899. — Vasari, V, 390. — Ibid., Commentario alla Vita di Guglielmo Marcillac, IV, 433. — Eug. Müntz, L' Atelier monétaire de Rone, 1884. — Ronchini, Il Pastorino da Siena, Atti et Memorie delle RR. deputazioni di storia patria per le provincie modenesi e parmensi, vol. V, I, — 39-44. E. Müntz, Histoire de l' Art pendant la Renaissance. — Kenner, Ann. du Musée de Vienne, t. XII, 1891. — Domanig, op. cit. — Grande Encyclopédie. — G. F. Hill, loc. cit.

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