FINIGUERRA, Maso (contraction for Tommaso), a Florentine goldsmith, is distinguished as the inventor of the method of taking impressions from engraved plates. The date of his birth is not ascertained, and conjectures vary from 1400 to 1426. He was one of the best workers in niello, a form of decorative art then very much in vogue in Italy, which, however, in the next century fell into neglect. He is said to have been a pupil of the famous sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti, and to have assisted him in the execution of the beautiful bronze gates of the baptistery of Florence; but whether the first or second pair of gates is not stated. Baldinucci makes him a pupil of Masaccio; but it appears probable that he was rather one of those art students who were powerfully influenced by the new style, noble in simplicity, of Masaccio’s works, than a personal disciple of the painter. One indisputably genuine work of Finiguerra is still extant, a silver Pax on which is λvrought in niello a representation of the Coronation of the Virgin. By some writers it is called an Assumption. It was executed for the church of San Giovanni Battista at Florence, and is still preserved there. It is in height a little more than 4 inches, and in breadth about 3 inches; and within this small space is a composition of more than forty figures, marvellous for accuracy of drawing and minute finish. The date of its completion is fixed by an entry in the city archives, under the year 1452. During the progress of the work the artist, according to the custom, took casts in sulphur from the plate, and also impressions upon damped paper. For these impressions he made use of a smooth roller, which passed over the paper on the plate, and produced impressions that looked like pen drawings. This method was followed by ...