Italy 50 Euro Gold Coin 2015 From Rococo to Macchiaioli
Coins of the Italian Republic: Fauna in Art Series
Rococo is a style of architecture and decoration originating in France in the 18th century as an evolution from Baroque. Characterised by a triumph of decoration, Rococo successfully combined the delicacy of composition with the brilliance of colours.
The Macchiaioli, a group of Italian artists active in Tuscany in the second half of the 19th century, privilege an anti-academic pictorial style pursuing Verismo ideals and
abolishing the use of geometric lines and dots to emphasise chiaroscuro and spots of colour or “macchie” in Italian, hence the name.
Obverse: two of the dogs that savaged Atteone who had been turned into a deer: detail from the Fountain of Diana and Atteone in the Park of the Reggia di Caserta, work of Paolo Persico, Pietro Solari and Angelo Brunelli and example of Naples’ Rococo; below, the name of the designer “A. MASINI”; around, inscription “REPUBBLICA ITALIANA” and dot decorated frame.
Reverse: rural scenery with a pair of oxen in front of a peasant seating on the floor: detail from the painting Il riposo by Giovanni Fattori, displayed at the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan; above, “2015”; below, the value “50 EURO” followed by the letter “R” identifying the Mint of Rome; on the upper part of the coin, arch-shaped inscription “FAUNA NELL’ ARTE”; around, dot decorated frame.
SPECIFICATIONS
Denomination: 50 euro.
Metal: gold.
Fineness: legal 900 - tolerance ± 1‰.
Weight: 16.129 g - tolerance ± 5 ‰.
Diameter: 28 mm.
Finish: proof.
Designer: Annalisa Masini.
Mintage: 900.
Edge: continuous milled.
Proof: € 780.
Issue: 20/04/2015.
Rococo
Rococo, less commonly roccoco, or "Late Baroque", is an early to late French 18th-century artistic movement and style, affecting many aspects of the arts including painting, sculpture, architecture, interior design, decoration, literature, music, and theatre. It developed in the early 18th century in Paris, France as a reaction against the grandeur, symmetry, and strict regulations of the previous Baroque style, especially of the Palace of Versailles, until it was redone. Rococo artists and architects used a more jocular, florid, and graceful approach to the Baroque. Their style was ornate and used light colours, asymmetrical designs, curves, and gold. Unlike the political Baroque, the Rococo had playful and witty themes. The interior decoration of Rococo rooms was designed as a total work of art with elegant and ornate furniture, small sculptures, ornamental mirrors, and tapestry complementing architecture, reliefs, and wall paintings.
By the end of the 18th century, Rococo was largely replaced by the Neoclassic style. In 1835 the Dictionary of the French Academy stated that the word Rococo "usually covers the kind of ornament, style and design associated with Louis XV's reign and the beginning of that of Louis XVI". It includes therefore, all types of art from around the middle of the 18th century in France. The word is seen as a combination of the French rocaille (stone) and coquilles (shell), due to reliance on these objects as decorative motifs. The term may also be a combination of the Italian word "barocco" (an irregularly shaped pearl, possibly the source of the word "baroque") and the French "rocaille" (a popular form of garden or interior ornamentation using shells and pebbles) and may describe the refined and fanciful style that became fashionable in parts of Europe in the 18th century.
The Rococo love of shell-like curves and focus on decorative arts led some critics to say that the style was frivolous or merely modish. When the term was first used in English in about 1836, it was a colloquialism meaning "old-fashioned". The style received harsh criticism and was seen by some to be superficial and of poor taste, especially when compared to neoclassicism; despite this, it has been praised for its aesthetic qualities, and since the mid-19th century, the term has been accepted by art historians. While there is still some debate about the historical significance of the style to art in general, Rococo is now widely recognized as a major period in the development of European art.
Macchiaioli
The Macchiaioli were a group of Italian painters active in Tuscany in the second half of the nineteenth century, who, breaking with the antiquated conventions taught by the Italian academies of art, did much of their painting outdoors in order to capture natural light, shade, and colour. This practice relates the Macchiaioli to the French Impressionists who came to prominence a few years later, although the Macchiaioli pursued somewhat different purposes. The most notable artists of this movement were Giuseppe Abbati, Cristiano Banti, Odoardo Borrani, Vincenzo Cabianca, Adriano Cecioni, Vito D'Ancona, Serafino De Tivoli, Giovanni Fattori, Raffaello Sernesi, Silvestro Lega and Telemaco Signorini.