JESI, SAMUEL:

By: Isidore Singer, Umberto Cassuto

Italian engraver; born at Milan 1789; died at Florence Jan. 17, 1853. He was a pupil of G. Longhi at the Academy of Milan. His first work (1821) was "The Abandonment of Hagar," engraved after a painting by Guercino in the Palazzo di Brera at Milan; this was followed (1834) by "The Madonna with St. John and St. Stephen," from a painting by Fra Bartolomeo in the Cathedral of Lucca. He then devoted himself to the works of Raphael, whom he ably interpreted. His master-piece is the group representing Pope Leo X. with Cardinals Rossi and Giulio dei Medici (1834). While in Paris for the purpose of having it printed he was elected a corresponding member of the Academie des Beaux-Arts, and received the ribbon of the Legion of Honor. In 1846 he began to work on his engraving of the "Cœna Domini," discovered in the Church of S. Onofrio, Florence, and attributed to Raphael. Meanwhile he engraved the "Madonna della Vite." In 1849 he completed the drawing of the "Cœna Domini," but died before finishing the engraving.

S. U. C.