Luigi Pichler 1773 - 1854 Italian, Rome, circa 1820
Intaglio with Zeus Serapis
signed: PICHLER in Greek carnelian, within a ring mount
Intaglio: 19mm.
Ring size: 7
Weight: 11.52gr.

Luigi Pichler heralded from a distinguished lineage of gem engravers. His father Antonio and his half brother Giovanni were both gem cutters and he assumed the running of the family studio in 1791. He went on to work for the Habsburg Imperial family in Vienna and so impressed the French court jeweller François-Régnault Nitot that the latter tried to persuade him to move to Paris. Pichler received many distinctions later in life including a diploma from the Academy of St Luke and membership of the Academy in Venice, as well as, in 1839, Knight's Cross of the Order of St Gregory the Great and, in 1842, of the Order of St Sylvester.