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Pistrucci, Benedetto
(b Rome, 24 May 1784; d Englefield Green, Surrey, 16 Sept 1855). Italian gem-engraver, medallist and sculptor, active in England. He was apprenticed to Roman gem-engravers, whom he quickly surpassed in skill. In 1800 he became independent and in 1802 married Barbara Folchi; of their five children, Elena Pistrucci (1822–86) and Elisa Maria Pistrucci (1824–81) became cameo-engravers. In 1815 Pistrucci sought patronage in London; from 1816 he worked at the Royal Mint, producing coinage dies for George III and George IV, and was appointed Chief Medallist in 1828, with WILLIAM WYON as Chief Engraver. He made the official coronation medals for George IV and for Victoria; the former, while still Prince Regent, commissioned him in 1819 to make the Waterloo medal (diam. 135 mm), which was never issued. Pistrucci signed 14 medals, mainly private commissions, including grand pieces for the court goldsmiths, Rundell, Bridge & Rundell. Some 50 gems and cameos by him are known. Pistrucci gained some celebrity when he identified as his work an ‘antique’ cameo of Flora belonging to Richard Payne Knight. He made six portrait busts, including one of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1832; Stratfield Saye House, Hants), and a collection of 396 models in wax for medals, coins and gems is preserved in the Museo Numismatico della Zecca Italiana, Rome. His style is an amalgam of Italian academic training and the influence of Canova’s Neo-classicism. Pistrucci’s probity and skill kept the art of gem-engraving alive in England.
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