The second and final of Powercoins two new CIT-produced designs is also out today and it’s another impressive coin. The first to debut SmartMinting on both sides of the coin, it is again a fine demonstration of this new minting technology developed by Coin Invest Trust and BH Mayer Mint. The first coin we covered in our last post was a one ounce silver design featuring the modern activist effigy of Guy Fawkes.

This one has the same diameter as the Guido Fawkes coin, but is double the weight at 62.2 grams (2 ounces). It’s the extra mass that makes the design capable of featuing smartminting on both sides. The subject matter this time around is art, the debut coin depicting an amazing sculpture by Antonio Cavana. As smartminting is involved and the coin doesn’t have an extremely wide diameter, it’s obvious that its talents have been directed towards high relief.

High relief is applied with more subtety than on other recent releases, being used to enhance a single focused element of the design, rather than a wide spread of the face. The subject is an extraordinary piece called Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss from the last years of the eighteenth century. The work, as you can see above, is an ambitious one to replicate on a coin, even a smartminted one, but an initial look is very promising. A marble-effect colour has been applied to the statue face, and the background is in a finish called Black Proof. We’re unsure if that is colour, or ruthenium/rhodium plating. The end result is an increased contrast, allowing the sculpture to stand out better than it would against a polished silver finish.

The outer area of each face is a highly detailed patterned strike that makes a great frame for the main subject. The date of issue in Roman numerals is a nice touch. All other inscriptions, and the shield of Palau, are well placed and well realised. Coming in a box with a Certificate of Authenticity, it will ship at the end of October for €229.00. Mintage is 999. Art lovers will be impressed we think.

Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss is a sculpture by Antonio Canova first commissioned in 1787 by Colonel John Campbell. It is regarded as a masterpiece of Neoclassical sculpture, but shows the mythological lovers at a moment of great emotion, characteristic of the emerging movement of Romanticism. It represents the god Cupid in the height of love and tenderness, immediately after awakening the lifeless Psyche with a kiss. The story of Cupid and Psyche is taken from Lucius Apuleius’ Latin novel The Golden Ass, and was popular in art.

Joachim Murat acquired the first or prime version in 1800. After his death the statue entered the Louvre Museum in Paris, France in 1824; Prince Yusupov, a Russian nobleman acquired the 2nd version of the piece from Canova in Rome in 1796, and it later entered the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.

Having been recently awakened, Psyche reaches up towards her lover, Cupid, as he gently holds her by supporting her head and breast. Antonio Canova’s fine technique in carving marble contrasts their realistic smooth skin with the surrounding elements. Loosely draped around Psyche’s lower body, a sheet further emphasizes the difference between the texture of skin and drapery. Rough texture provides the basis of the rock upon which the composition is placed supplementing the distinctions of elements. Fine curls and lines make up the hair and light feathery details create realistic wings upon the landing Cupid.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Antonio Canova (1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italian neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the neoclassical artists, his artwork was inspired by the Baroque and the classical revival, but avoided the melodramatics of the former, and the cold artificiality of the latter.

The sculptor was born in 1757 in Possagno, Italy, was raised by his stonemason paternal grandfather, Pasino Canova. Venetian Senator Giovanni Falier was Canova’s patron with great influence which started Canova’s career. During Napoleon Bonaparte’s campaigns of 1796-1797, Napoleon caught wind of Canova’s sculpture; “General Bonaparte offered Canova his protection and greatly flattered the sculptor, and later, when he was military dictator of France as first consul, he sought to enlist Canova’s considerable talents for his own glorification.”

Canova however, deemed himself an independent artist and had previously rejected a court invitation from Czarina Catherine II, as Canova believed, “art was above politics.” Yet this was not enough as “in the end power politics, manifested in French pressure on the papacy, forced [Canova] to acquiesce.” Against his wishes, Canova gained various titles and honors such as “Cavaliere of the Golden Spur, Cavaliere di Cristo, [and] marquisate of Ischia. Canova was a wildly successful independent sculptor and his skill and talent is evident within his works such as Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss.

(Source: Wikipedia again, as I know even less about 18th century sculptors…)