loading...

Mastini

Additional Info

  • Article:

    It is commonly state that Mastini cameo's signatures were definitely used as a shortening of the name Amastini which can be ascribed either to Angelo Amastini or to his son Niccolo, both romans gems-engravers of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

    The styles of the father and son are quite distinct, but it is not possible to say definitely which version was made by one or the other without having a larger number of examples to compare.

    Variants of the signature which may be ascribed to Angelo Amastini are A. MASTINI on a Psyche cameo of the British Museum and on a portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte in the Cabinet des Médailles in Paris.

    The versions of the name bearing the initial "N" may be those used by Niccolo. Signatures using the initial N include N. AMASTINI on an Achilles Mourning for Patroclus cameo of the British Museum, N. AMASTINY on an Infant Bacchus cameo of the MET and N.T. MASTINI. F on an Oedipus and the Sphinx cameo of the Hermitage Museum.

    Despite possible attribution confusions, father and son cameos' are both of very high quality and are displayed in the world greatest museums and collections.