In his youth, de Francisci worked in his father's marble yard in Sicily. He began his art studies in his native land and, after emigrating to America in 1903, studied in New York at the Academy school, the Cooper Union, and the Art Students League. Among his teachers were George T. Brewster and James Earle Fraser. He served as assistant to Philip Martiny, Hermon MacNeil, and Alexander Weinman, among others. His artistic independence was established in about 1912, and he opened his own studio in New York in 1917. At various times during his career, he taught at the BeauxÄArts Institute of Design, the Academy school for the year 1948-49, and again 1959-60, and Columbia University.
De Francisci specialized in relief portraits and medal work. Among his works in the latter field were the Ford Motor Compnay 50th Anniversary Medal and the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers Medal. Perhaps his most wellÄknown and most widelyÄdistributed work was the lapel medal, depicting the American eagle, which was issued to discharged military personnel. It was officially named the National Defense Button but was known to G.I.'s as "the ruptured duck." Although designed in 1925, it was not used by the government until World War II.
In numismatics, de Francisci was responsible for the design of the Maine Centennial Half Dollar of 1920 and the "Peace" Silver Dollar of 1921, a work for which his wife, Mary T. Cafarelli, posed. On a large scale, De Francisci was responsible for the Independence Memorial in Union Square and the Raymond Memorial for the Mining Engineers Building, both in New York. Two of his panels grace the exterior of the United States Post Office Department Building in Washington, D. C.
De Francisci began exhibiting at the Academy in 1912 and continued to do so for most of his life, actively participating in annual and winter exhibitions well into the 1960s. He received the Academy's Watrous Gold Medal in 1940, and its Dessie Greer Prize in 1962.
