Jean-Baptiste Nini, sa vie--son uvre, 1717-1786
A late nineteenth-century French monograph by A. Storelli, published in Tours in 1896 by Mame, on the life and work of the Italian-born medallist Jean-Baptiste Nini (1717-1786), with illustrations of his portrait medallions. The plates show low-relief profile portraits in terracotta or plaster, photographed in grey halftone on plain paper, with the medallions framed in rings and scalloped borders. A designer could take from them the strict profile composition, the sculpted curls and ribbon-tied hair, and the circular medallion format as a layout device.
