Sovereign 2017 proof

[gkounto]

Όσον αφορά την άλλη πλευρά μόλις έμαθα από που εμπνεύστηκε ο Pistrucci 

St George and the Gold Sovereign
St George slaying the dragon was the chosen subject for the new gold sovereign that made its debut in the late summer of 1817. Destined to become one of the world’s best-loved coin designs, it was created by the Italian gem engraver Benedetto Pistrucci who had come to London in 1815 and whose subsequent association with the Royal Mint brought about something of a golden era in numismatic art.

Founded on a style inspired by classical Greece, Pistrucci’s approach to the design represented a refreshing departure from previous gold coins whose style had been traditionally heraldic. It seems he may have found inspiration in the magnificent Elgin Marbles, the beautiful marble carvings that Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin, brought to England in the early 1800s.

The ornamental frieze originally decorated the Parthenon in Athens and displayed some 400 human figures and 200 animals that seemed to be taking part in a lively procession. The horsemen provide a wonderful impression of movement, their face and body expressions conveying a sense of skill and confidence, as they easily keep their horses under firm control.

Pistrucci’s St George is strongly reminiscent of these marble relief sculptures, his horse adopting an aggressive attitude towards the wounded dragon yet effortlessly kept in check by his master. His design of a naked Greek horseman mounted on a Parthenon-style horse is, indeed, one of great classic beauty and many would still agree with Humphrey Sutherland who, in his book Art in Coinage (1955) declared it one of the noblest innovations in English coin design from 1800 to the present day. To the delight of collectors, artists and historians, it continues on the gold sovereign to this very day.

Πηγή: http://www.royalmint.com/discover/sovere...gon-slayer

Και μερικές reference images

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[Εικόνα: detail-from-the-parthenon-frieze-greek-m...d179793514]

Λέγεται Μιχάλη οτι είχε σαν μοντέλο  ενα σερβιτόρο του ξενοδοχείου όπου διέμενε στην πλατεία picadilly.