Metalwork

17th century, male.

Monogram of an engraver (etching).

Active towards the end of the 17th century; cited by Brulliot. Known as the engraver of a garland of flowers and fruit probably designed for use as a model by silversmiths and goldsmiths.

(b ?Munich, fl 1535; d Munich, 1567).

German sculptor, mason and medallist. In 1536 he became a master sculptor in Munich and shortly afterwards entered the service of Ludwig X, Duke of Bavaria. He moved to Landshut in 1537 to work on the construction of the Italian wing of the ducal Stadtresidenz. In 1555 he travelled to Neuburg an der Donau to oversee the shipment of stone for the palace’s chimneys. He was influenced by and may have assisted Thomas Hering, the sculptor of these chimneys (See under Hering, Loy). Also in 1555 he reverted to Munich citizenship.

The few surviving examples of his sculpture show him to have been an accomplished if somewhat derivative artist. Many seem to have been commissioned by Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria, who paid him an annual salary from 1558 (and perhaps as early as 1551) to 1567. Aesslinger’s limestone reliefs (both 1550) of the Massacre of the Innocents...

Italian, 17th – 18th century, male.

Active in Florence.

Sculptor, medallist.

Cited by Zani. Alberghetti would appear to come from a well-known family of artists of the same name who worked from the Renaissance to the end of the 18th century as both casters and sculptors in Ferrara, Florence and Venice (where several were in charge of casting operations at the Artillery)....

German, 17th century, male.

Born in Dresden.

Painter, engraver.

Trained from 1611 to 1622 under a goldsmith, but then went over to painting. He did a portrait of Johann Zechendorf, rector and professor in Zwickau, which he engraved from the painting. This work shows him to have been uncommonly gifted....

German, 16th – 17th century, male.

Active in Augsburg in 1570.

Born c. 1547, in Colmar; died 1617, in Augsburg.

Enameller, goldsmith.

(b ?London, c. 1470; d ?London, 1532).

English goldsmith. He was the son of a London goldsmith and was the most successful goldsmith working at the Tudor court; his work bridged the transition between the Gothic and the Renaissance styles. He was an official at the Mint from 1504 to almost the end of his life, his appointment possibly facilitated by his marriage to Elizabeth, granddaughter of Sir Hugh Bryce (d 1496), Court Goldsmith to Henry VIII. In 1524 Amadas became the first working goldsmith to become Master of the Jewel House to Henry VIII, an office he retained until 1532, supplying spangles, wire and ribbons to the court. In the 1520s his orders included a large amount of plate for gifts to foreign ambassadors; he also supplied a number of New Year’s gifts for the court. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey was one of Amadas’ most important clients, and Amadas supplied him with a number of lavish objects. Other clients included ...

German, 17th century, male.

Born in Weilheim (Bavaria); died 1632, in Munich.

Sculptor (ivory).

The son of a goldsmith, Angermair went to Munich while still very young and became a turner at court from 1618 to 1631, doing works in ivory for Princess Elizabeth of Lorraine. Other works include a relief of ...

[Alari-Bonacolsi, Pier Jacopo di Antonio]

(b Mantua, c. 1460; d Gazzuolo, 1528).

Italian sculptor. An expert in goldsmith work, bronze sculpture and medals, he earned his nickname ‘Antico’ because of his ‘astonishing penetration of antiquity’ (Nesselrath). He achieved lasting fame through his small-scale re-creations (often also reinterpretations) of famous, but often fragmentary, statues of antiquity (e.g. the Apollo Belvedere, Rome, Vatican, Mus. Pio-Clementino, and the Spinario, Rome, Mus. Conserv.). Most of these bronze statuettes were made for the Gonzaga family, notably for Ludovico, Bishop of Mantua, and for Isabella d’Este, wife of Francesco II Gonzaga, 4th Marchese of Mantua. Antico also restored ancient marble statues and acted as an adviser to collectors.

A birth date of 1460 has been calculated on the basis of Antico’s earliest recorded commission (1479), and he is presumed to have been born in Mantua because his father, a butcher, owned a house there and he himself was granted the privilege of owning a stall in the meat market by Federico I Gonzaga, 3rd Marchese of Mantua. A training as a goldsmith is inferred from the fact that he began as a medallist in relief and in intaglio. In addition, he is documented (see below) as the maker of a pair of silver gilt vases and later demonstrated great skill at casting and chasing bronze statuettes, and at gilding and inlaying them with silver. His restoration of antique marble statues also implies an expertise in working that material, but nothing is known of how he acquired this skill....

(b Toledo, c. 1525; d Madrid, 1594).

Spanish silversmith. He worked for the cathedral and various churches in Toledo until his departure for Alcalá de Henares in 1557. While in Toledo he made an altarpiece (1554) for Segovia Cathedral. In Alcalá he made the crosses of Daganzo de Arriba, of which only the cuadrón (Madrid, priv. col.) and the cross of Algete (Toledo, Mus. Santa Cruz) remain. Both are Mannerist in structure and ornamentation. By 1563 Babia had established himself in Madrid, where the court had already settled, and shortly afterwards was appointed silversmith to Philip II. In this capacity he executed over a period of years several chalices for alms donated by the king during the feast of Epiphany (examples at Juan de la Penitencia de Alcalá, 1571; Elvas, Portugal, 1581; Lisbon, Mus. N. A. Ant., 1582; Augustinian convent, Segovia, 1589). The chalices made by him for Carranque, Madrid, and the Escorial were not made for alms, despite their similarity to the royal chalices. Babia also executed a reliquary for the Escorial. In ...

(b Bolsward, Friesland, 1628; d Bolsward, 1691).

Dutch silversmith . He was the son of the silversmith Frans Rienckes, and he started his apprenticeship at the age of 11 or 12, becoming a master of the Bolsward guild in 1654. His use of embossed botanical decoration on silverware was part of the Dutch late 17th-century expression of floral naturalism in the decorative arts. He appears to have remained in Bolsward throughout his life, producing domestic and church silver. The small number of objects attributed to him includes presentation and alms dishes, salts and such smaller objects as hinges, plaquettes and brush backs. Three objects dating from 1680–81 (Leeuwarden, Fries Mus., 8023, 1949-260, 1955-521) demonstrate his different approaches to the floral theme: the rim of one large dish is divided into sections, each containing an individual embossed flower, whereas another has a swirling pattern of flowers tumbling out of cornucopias and fruits, vegetables and insects; a pair of hinges is decorated with a tight symmetrical design of flower heads and leaves. In other examples fish and crustacea are included in the decorative scheme, and putti playing musical instruments appear on dish rims and centres....

(b c. 1495; d Nuremberg, Aug 3, 1577).

German gold- and silversmith. He may have been descended from a family of artists who settled in Nuremberg, where on February 6, 1525 he was recorded as a citizen and master goldsmith. From 1534 to 1537 he was a master of the guild. Despite the lack of biographical details, his importance among the German goldsmiths of his day is uncontested; as early as 1546 Johann Neudörfer in his Nachrichten gave him special emphasis. Additional material in archives (Bösch; Hampe) provides further information about Baier’s life and work. It is clear that Baier collaborated closely with Peter Flötner, who produced the models for almost all Baier’s gold figures (Kohlhausen), and he also worked with Dürer, Hans, Labenwolf family, §1. Baier probably had a large workshop, as evinced by the number of documented works dating from 1530 to 1547. Since few of the extant pieces are marked, Baier’s direct contribution to the works attributed to him must be questionable....

French, 17th century, male.

Born 1640; died 1er December 1700, in Paris.

Goldsmith.

Bain lodged at the Galeries du Louvre in 1671 and was the son-in-law of Gilles Légaré, his associate. He appears only to have done raised translucent enamelling.

(b ?1436; ? bur Florence, Dec 12, 1487).

Italian goldsmith and engraver . According to Vasari, he was a follower of Maso Finiguerra and engraved a series of 19 prints after designs by Botticelli. These illustrate an edition of Dante’s Divine Comedy published in 1481. A group of prints in the same Fine Manner style is attributed to Baldini. His designs incorporate figures and motifs derived from Botticelli, Piero Pollaiuolo and also German printmakers, such as the Master E.S. and Martin Schongauer, but particularly from Finiguerra. Baldini’s Fine Manner style developed from Finiguerra’s niello print technique; the rendering of spatial recession in the large Judgement Hall of Pilate (435×598 mm) suggests it was designed by Finiguerra. With the other prints, however, it shares the decorative quality and emphasis on pattern characteristic of Baldini.

Prints attributed to Baldini include the series of Planets (c. 1465), based on northern woodcuts, and a series of Prophets and Sibyls (early 1470s), as adapted from the characters in a mystery play; the exotic costumes reflect those worn in festival processions. Antonio Bettini’s ...

French family of goldsmiths and bronze-founders. Members of the Ballin family were active in Paris from the 16th century to the 18th. Claude Ballin (i) (b Paris, 3 May 1615; d Paris, 22 May 1678) became a master goldsmith in 1637. He was granted lodgings in the Louvre, Paris, before 1671 and became Orfèvre Ordinaire du Roi. Nicknamed ‘the Great Ballin’, he was one of the most prominent French goldsmiths of the 17th century. He worked extensively for Louis XIV, providing an enormous quantity of silver and silver-gilt objects, including vases, bowls, display stands and incense-burners that formed part of the silver furnishings (destr. 1690) of the château of Versailles. Ballin’s work in the classical style also included ecclesiastical pieces (untraced) for the cathedrals of Paris and Reims that are known from numerous drawings (Berlin, Kstbib. & Mus.; Stockholm, N. Mus.; Beauvais, Archvs Dépt.), and which also feature in some wall-hangings, for example the ...

French, 17th century, male.

Born 1615, in Paris; died 22 May 1678, in Paris.

Sculptor, goldsmith, medallist.

Claude Ballin made a series of articles in gold for Louis XIV, and was the maker of a number of bronze, silver and gold vases decorated with low reliefs (Parc de Versailles, Parterre du Midi and Parterre du Nord). He also worked for several churches in Paris and for the abbey of St-Denis. He became a master goldsmith in ...

[Brandini, Bartolomeo]

(b Gaiole in Chianti, Oct 17, 1493; d Florence, Feb 7, 1560).

Italian sculptor, painter and draughtsman. He was the son of Michelagnolo di Viviano (1459–1528), a prominent Florentine goldsmith who was in the good graces of the Medici and who taught Cellini and Raffaello da Montelupo. Baccio remained loyal to the Medici, despite their being in exile from 1494 to 1513, and this led to a flow of commissions after the elections to the papacy of Leo X (Giovanni de’ Medici) in 1513 and of Clement VII (Giulio de’ Medici) a decade later; after Cosimo de’ Medici became Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1537, these increased still further. This political stance made him unpopular with most Florentines, including Michelangelo, who were Republican at heart, and this lay at the root of much of the adverse criticism—not always justified—that greeted Bandinelli’s statues.

Baccio seems to have had an ambitious and impatient temperament, which led to frequent changes of master and of direction when he was learning his art. Until ...

French, 17th century, male.

Goldsmith, painter (including enamel).

Barier worked in the second half of the 17th century in Laval and Paris. He is mentioned by Mariette in his Abecedario.

[Nicolò]

(b Florence; fl 1434; d between 24 and Oct 29, 1453).

Italian sculptor and bronze-caster. According to Vasari, he was a disciple of Filippo Brunelleschi. He is first mentioned on 27 April 1434 as having completed a large wooden Crucifix (destr.) for S Margarita, Vigonza (Padua). Baroncelli is identified with the ‘Nicholo da Fiorenza’, who was paid from 15 December 1436 to 16 March 1437 for two tondi in the Santo, Padua; they are identified with two marble tondi with half-figures of saints, which flank the rear entry to the choir. In 1436 he was commissioned to make the monument to the Santasofia Family (destr.) in the Eremitani, Padua. This comprised statues of 10 professors, the recumbent effigy of Galeazzo Santasofia, 12 statues of pupils and four unspecified statues. It was still unfinished in 1446. On 27 January 1440 Baroncelli was commissioned to execute 25 figures in relief for the monument to Battista Sanguinacci in the Eremitani, but Sanguinacci was instead buried in the tomb of his grandfather Ilario, which was decorated with an equestrian statue and a God the Father (both destr.). On ...

(b Mantua, Sept 23, 1690; d Mantua, Aug 18, 1769).

Italian painter. He was the son of the goldsmith Giovanni Bazzani and trained in the studio of Giovanni Canti (1653–1715). Giuseppe was a refined and cultivated artist (Tellini Perina, 1988) and as a young man profited from the rich collections of art in Mantua, studying the works of Andrea Mantegna, Giulio Romano, 16th-century Venetian painters, especially Paolo Veronese, and Flemish artists, above all Rubens. His earliest works, for example the Assumption (Milan, priv. col., see Caroli, pl. 20), reveal an affinity with contemporary Venetian painters such as Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, Federico Bencovich and Andrea Celesti, but Bazzani rapidly absorbed the influence of Antonio Balestra, Domenico Fetti and most of all Rubens and Veronese. The inspiration of the last two artists is apparent in a number of works that may be dated in the 1720s and early 1730s. These include the Miracles of Pius V, the Conversion of a Heretic...

(b Thionville, 1507, or Lunéville, 1515; d Rome, c. 1565).

French engraver. He was probably related to a family of goldsmiths from Nancy, but his working life was spent in Italy. He produced many engravings for publishers in Rome and specialized mostly in reproducing Italian paintings, views of ancient Rome and to a lesser extent portraits. He worked for the engraver and publisher Tommaso Barlacchi in 1541 and 1550, producing Joseph Interpreting Pharaoh’s Dreams (Robert-Dumesnil, no. 2), the Ascension (rd 14) and Christ Delivering Souls from Limbo (rd 15) after Raphael. He also worked for Antonio Salamanca, for whom he made versions of paintings by Raphael, Michelangelo (e.g. Virgin of Sorrows, 1547; rd 18) and Baccio Bandinelli (e.g. Struggle between Reason and the Passions, 1545; rd 36).

After 1547 Beatrizet seems to have worked for Antoine Lafréry, for whom he made engravings of views of Roman monuments and antique sculptures—for example The Pantheon (rd 103) and the ...