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Benedetto Pistrucci
Benedetto Pistrucci was born on May 29, 1783 and died
on September 16, 1855. He was a talented engraver of gemstones,
cameos, coins and medals, who is most famous for his St George and
the Dragon which, since 1817, adorned the sovereigns and crowns.
Born in Italy, he moved to London in 1815 and was
employed at the Royal Mint
as an engraver, where his most famous work is his portrayal of St.
George & the Dragon used on British gold sovereigns and crowns from
1817 to the present day. He also engraved the dies for many other
coins, medals, and medallions, including the Waterloo Medal, which
took him over thirty years to complete.
 He
refused to copy the work of any other artist or engraver, and
insisted that all his work was his own original work.
Because of his Italian origin, he was not officially
recognised as the chief engraver at the
Royal Mint, and there were
rivalries with other engravers including the Wyon family.
To immortalize the successful Waterloo campaign, the Duke of
Wellington suggested that a couple of special medals be prepared.
From a July 11, 1815, letter from Master of the Mint W.W. Pole to
the president of the Royal Academy:
 "I
have been commanded to strike two Medals at the Royal Mint in
commemoration of the battles of Les Quatre Bras and Waterloo; One,
in gold, of the largest size, to embrace the exploits of the allied
army under the Duke of Wellington the Prince of Orange and the Duke
of Brunswick, and of the Prussian Army under Field Marshal Blucher.
This Medal will probably be given to each of the sovereigns in
alliance with the Prince Regent, to their ministers and generals."
Medallists were petitioned to submit designs for the
medal. Pistrucci's design was selected over a design by John
Flaxman, which had been recommended by the Royal Academy. However,
due to an internal strife at the
Royal Mint between Pistrucci, Pole, and Wyon regarding the
position of chief engraver, work on the medal got off to a slow
start.
Ongoing personality conflicts within the
Royal Mint, salary disputes,
a heavy workload, and the utter complexities of the proposed design
were all contributing factors as to why it took Pistrucci 33 years
to complete his masterpiece. In 1849 the dies were reportedly
finished, but only in terms of design execution.
Although the dies were created in four pieces to
assist in their hardening, it seems that nobody was willing to take
the risk of damaging Pistrucci's work that was three decades in the
making. Unfortunately, by this time all of the intended recipients
of the medal were deceased, with the exception of Wellington.
Gutta-percha impressions and electrotypes were finally created.
Pistrucci was finally able to see his magnum opus in medal form. He
died a few years later, in 1855.
Pistrucci is buried in Virginia Water, Surrey, England at Christ
Church. He has a prominent gravestone which cites his title as Her
Majesty's "Chief Medallist". His grave is situated at the front of
the Church under a tree.
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