161 Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi
, known as Metastasio (1698-1782), writer and poet, Death, Silver Medal,
1782, by I N Wirt, bust right, rev emblems of music and literature, 42mm; Memorial, Copper Medal, 1805, by
Tomasso Mercandetti, bust left as classical scholar, rev Apollo and Muse with lyre,
DOCVIT MAGNA LOQVI
,
67mm (Ni p.151); Giovanni Battista [Giambattista] Pergolesi (1710-1736), composer, violinist and organist,
Copper Medal, 1806, by Tomasso Mercandetti, bust right in buttoned coat,
rev lyre on monument, 67mm (Ni
1589). Extremely fine. (3)
£80-120
162 Anna Davia [D’Avia] Bernucci
(1743-1810), singer and actress from Belluno, a pair of Portrait Medals, 1792,
Silver and Copper, by A Cino (?), bust left, rev emblems of music within wreath, 37mm (Ni 532; Volt 1746;
Seren III, 170). Both very fine and rare, the silver especially so. (2)
£200-300
Whilst the medal commemorates her performance of Vendetta di Nino at Leghorn [Livorno], Anna Davia is best remembered for her time
in Russia, under contract to Catherine the Great and where she was painted by Dmitry Levitzky. Although married she conducted affairs
with the Russian aristocracy. It was her relationship with Count Aleksandr Andreevic Bezborodko, who showered her with money,
favours and jewellery, to the value of some 500,000-Roubles, that caused Catherine II to evict her from Russia with just 24 hours notice.
Her career continued in Italy till 1803 and she is believed to have died in poverty in 1810.
163 Giovanni Ansono
(1744-1825), celebrated Roman tenor, Bronze Tribute Medal of the City of Livorno, 1792,
Roman School, bust right with curled hair, mantle around his shoulders, rev
VIRTVTI …,
within wreath, 55mm
(Ni 28; Molinar 138; Clifford 291). An exceptionally fine cast of of a medal normally found in poor condition,
extremely fine
.
£150-200
164 165
164 Luigi Ludovico Marchesi
(1754-1829), castrato singer, set of three Medals, in Silver, Copper and White
Metal, 1785, by A Guillemard, bust right, rev lyre and wreath on plinth, 43mm; and Silver Medal, 1791, by G
Hameani, bust left, rev legend in wreath, 31.5mm; Luigi Cherubini [Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore
Cherubini]
(1760-1842), composer (working mostly in France), Copper Medals (3) and cliché, by Donadio,
Oudiné, Préd’homme, and Gayrard, 32-53mm (Ni 468-471); Bartolemeo Christofori (1655-1731), Copper
Medal, 1876, by P Cavoti 56mm (Ni 526). Extremely fine. (9)
£100-150
In May 1805, Marchesi famously declined to sing before Napoleon, when he entered Milan.
165 Alessandro Marcello
(1684-1750), nobleman, dilettante and composer, Copper Medal, 1710, bust left with
flowing wig, rev a flourishing rose bush,
MISCENTVR IN VNVM
, 54mm (Ni 1249); Gaspare Luigi Pacifico Spontini
(1774-1851), opera composer and conductor, uniface Bronze Medal, by Müller, bust left, name behind, the
reverse ‘incised’ G. Opernkomponist / pr G M Dir geb 1778, 94mm (Ni 1924). Better than very fine. (2) £80-100
Alessandro Marcello, elder brother of the better known Benedetto Marcello (1686-1739), composer, writer, advocate, magistrate, and teacher.
166
OPERA SINGERS: Maria Magdalena Morelli (b. 1740), called [in Florentine Arcadian circles], “La Corilla
Olympica”
, Copper Medal, 1779, by I Z Weber, laureate bust right, rev legend, 36mm (Ni 1345); Giuseppa
Grassini
(1775-1850), non-portrait Copper Medal, 1816, 44mm (Ni 742); Adelaide Malanotte (1785-1832),
singer, Copper Memorial Medal, 1821, by Putinati, 34mm (Ni 1240); Luigi Lablache (1794-1858), Franco-Italian
bass, Copper Medal, 1825, by I E Boehm, 42mm (Ni 1032); Carlotta Marchionni (1796-1861), Italian actress
and singer, Bronze-gilt Medal, 1821, by Putinati, 34mm and Copper Medal, 1822, by Bonon, 42.5mm (Ni 1253,
1252); Maria Malibran (1808-1836), Spanish mezzo-soprano, non-portrait Copper Medal, 1832, 42.5mm (Ni
1243). Very fine and better. (8)
£100-150
167 Giuseppe Marco Maria Felice Blangini
(1781-1841), composer and teacher, by Leveque, 50mm (Ni 357);
others in Copper (except as stated), Carlo Angeloni (1854-1901), composer and teacher, Copper Medal, by L
Giorgi, head right, 40mm (Ni 27); Luigia Boccabadati (1800-1850), soprano, 1835, by G Zapperelli, her head
right, 45mm (Ni 359); Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848), composer of “bel canto” opera (3), by C Caqué, head
left, 46mm (Ni 560); by A Pojachi, rev Johann Simon Mayr (1763-1845), German-born composer, 52mm (Ni
565); by P Thermignon, 66mm (Ni 566); Domenico Mustafa (1829-1912), Director of the Sistine Chapel Choir
and teacher, by Johnson, 45mm (2, Silver and Copper) (Ni 1488); Adelaide Comelli-Rubini (1796-1874) and
Giovanni Batista Rubini
(1795-1854), both singers, he a tenor, by Putinati, conjoined busts right, 45.5mm;
Italo Campanini (1846-1896), tenor, non-portrait Copper Medal, 50mm (Ni 454); Ruggerio Leoncavallo (1858-
1919), opera composer, Plaquette, 1902, by F Kounitzky, 57mm x 38mm (Ni 1064); with Paisiello and Toscanini,
35mm (Ni 1560, 2019). Very fine to extremely fine. (12)
£100-150
168 Gioachino Antonio Rossini
(1792-1868), composer, uniface circular Bronze Plaquette, after the ‘Bois Durci’
Medal, bare head right, fine detail to hair, name above, 107mm, integral suspension loop (Ni 1720); Copper
Portrait Medal, 1866, by Hugues Bovy, bust left, rev date of birth, 60.5mm (Ni 1694); Bronze Plaquette, 1902,
by Friedrich Kounitzky, bust right, name, lyre and arrow piercing apple below in the Art Nouveau style, 76mm
x 49mm (Ni 1707). Extremely fine or nearly so. (3)
£70-90
Rossini wrote 39 operas including The Barber of Seville and William Tell.
The third medallist is possibly Franz Kounitzky (1880-1928), not Friedrich (as in Niggl).
169 Gioachino Antonio Rossini
(1792-1868), Gilt-copper Medal, undated, by Vittorio Nesti, on the award of the
French legion d’Honneur, 43mm (Ni 1711); Silvered-bronze Tribute Medal, 1869, by A Pieroni, for the city
of Pesaro, 45mm (Ni 1714); “La Sabat Mater del Rossini …”, Copper Medal, 1842, by A Fabris, Christ and
children, 51mm (Ni 1698); Base Metal Medals (2), 1842, 1843, by Piccioli, 67.5mm and 64mm (Ni 1712, 1713);
Copper Medals (3), by Luigi Gori, 36mm (Ni 1700); by F Vagnetti, bare head right, 51mm (Ni 1715); unsigned
and undated, bust left, rev
OTELLO / LA GAZA …
, 41mm (Ni 1721); and Brass Miniatures (2). Mostly very fine
to extremely fine, but third with somewhat corroded surface
. (10)
£80-120
A Presentation Medal to Giuseppe Verdi
170 Gioachino Antonio Rossini
(1792-1868), The Centenary Concert, Milan, 1892,
PRESENTATION GILT-BRONZE
MEDAL TO
Giuseppe Verdi, by Johnson, bare head right; Copper Commemorative Medal, for the event,
similar obverse, 35mm (Ni 1705, 1702). Extremely fine. (2)
£80-120