Antonio Canova (1757–1822)

Canova was one of the greatest artists of the neoclassical period. As a token of his gratitude to his friend Girolamo Zulian, the Venetian ambassador in Rome, he modeled a sculpture of Psyche. Zulian had helped Canova during his stay in the city and commissioned this medal from Hamerani to celebrate the gift. A series of unfortunate events, however, occurred following Zulian's death, and the statue was eventually sold to Napoleon. Only three silver and several copper medals of this type were struck in 1805 from Hamerani's model by Giannantonio Selva, making this medal one of the three rare examples. The medal has in the past been erroneously attributed to Giovanni's brother Gioacchino.

Source: Scher, Stephen K., et al. The Scher Collection of Commemorative Medals. New York and London, 2019.