Medalists 18th century
Massimiliano Soldani or Massimiliano Soldani Benzi was an Italian baroque sculptor and medallist, mainly active in Florence. Soldani developed into one of the finest bronze casters of his time in Europe. Though first specialising as a medallist, Soldani also produced bronze reliefs, bronze vases and free-standing figures and busts.
Dominique Vivant, Baron Denon was a French artist, writer, diplomat, author, and archaeologist. Denon was a diplomat for France under Louis XV and Louis XVI. He was appointed as the first Director of the Louvre museum by Napoleon after the Egyptian campaign of 1798-1801, and is commemorated in the Denon Wing of the modern museum and in the Dominique-Vivant Denon Research Center. His two-volume Voyage dans la basse et la haute Egypte ("Journey in Lower and Upper Egypt"), 1802, was foundational for modern Egyptology.