Giancarlo Rossetti, 1712-1793, Carmelite Preacher Padre Marco di San Francesco [obverse]
![Giancarlo Rossetti, 1712-1793, Carmelite Preacher Padre Marco di San Francesco [obverse] by Antonio Francesco Selvi](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/nga/thumb/giancarlo-rossetti-1712-1793-carmelite-preacher-nga-144855.webp)
Medium
bronze
Dimensions
overall (diameter): 8.66 cm (3 7/16 in.)
Classification
Sculpture
Department
CSD
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Andrew Brown
Accession Number
2009.107.2.a
Art Historical Context
This exquisite bronze medal, crafted by Italian artist Antonio Francesco Selvi 1748, honors Giancarlo Rossetti (1712–1793), a revered Carmelite preacher known as Marco di San Francesco. Measuring just 8.66 cm in diameter, its obverse likely features a portrait of the friar, capturing the solemnity of his religious life during the Enlightenment era. Selvi, a master medallist from Florence, was renowned for his intricate portrait medals that blended Renaissance traditions with Rococo elegance, making this piece a fine example of 18th-century Italian sculpture in miniature. Bronze medals like th...
About the Artist
Antonio Francesco Selvi · 1679–1755
Antonio Francesco Selvi (1679–1753) was a prominent Florentine sculptor and medallist whose exquisite bronze portraits captured the elegance of late Baroque Italy. Little is known of his early life before he arrived in Florence in 1698, but he quickly established himself in the city's vibrant artistic scene by studying under Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi, the renowned bronze-worker, sculptor, medalli...