The fruit of fire
An interview with Muriel Balensi

Ceramiche Rometti was founded in 1927 in Umbertide, from the vision of master ceramicist Settimio Rometti together with his nephews Aspromonte Rometti and Dante Baldelli. One year from the significant milestone of its hundredth anniversary, the Umbrian manufactory continues to celebrate and interweave artisanal knowledge with artistic research: an identity built over time through a coherent language, capable of crossing different eras and interpreting the ideas of many creative minds, all while remaining true to itself.

In 2012 Rometti was acquired by entrepreneur Massimo Monini, who relaunched its vision by bringing it back to its artisanal roots and opening it to an ever closer dialogue with contemporary design, alongside artistic director Jean-Christophe Clair, a key figure in translating collaborations with designers and artists into projects that can be concretely realized in ceramic. In this interview, Monini himself recounts the evolution of Rometti's savoir-faire toward an increasingly contemporary language, projected into the future.

Among the leading voices in contemporary Faentine ceramics, Antonietta Mazzotti Emaldi speaks about the exhibition project she will present in Florence on the occasion of Artigianato e Palazzo (11–13 September 2026), the thirty-second edition of the now historic showcase of high craftsmanship held in the Corsini Garden and its evocative spaces. Realised as part of the contemporary patronage project La Grande Bellezza. The Dream Factory, promoted by Starhotels in collaboration with Fondazione Cologni and Gruppo Editoriale, the exhibition brings together works from her most recent collections in a journey that weaves together classical elegance, formal research, and technical experimentation, pushing the ceramic medium to the limits of its expressive possibilities.

For over a century, the Bertozzi Print Workshop in Gambettola, in the province of Forlì-Cesena, has represented excellence in rust printing, a manual technique rooted in Romagna, according to some, since the time of Julius Caesar and his centurions. Between historical reality and legend, the basic ingredients have always been the same: a pear wood block, a dye with a secret recipe, and a fabric to be decorated. Everything else is creativity, but entirely at the service of craftsmanship. Gianluigi Bertozzi, grandson of the founder, tells us the story of the family workshop, the techniques of the craft, and the idea of applying the same technique and gestures to other materials. Without jealousy or secrets, because “the difficult part is not looking, but learning how to do it.”

In the Pinerolo valleys, in a workshop on the edge of the forest, Andrea Bouquet shapes wood into refined, distinctive small pieces of furniture inspired by the natural landscape and rural architecture. After many years working in the restoration of antique wooden objects, the cabinetmaker embarked on a personal path, developing an original language that combines mastery of traditional techniques with an innate graphic sensibility and a keen attention to material. On the occasion of Doppia Firma 2026, he spoke to us about his craft and artistic research, which unfolds in a liminal space - much like his workshop - between technique and instinct, contrast and balance, rigor and play.

In the heart of Florence, among streets that for centuries have safeguarded an extraordinary concentration of crafts, Renato Olivastri’s workshop still preserves the rhythm and atmosphere of traditional artisanal work. A restorer and marquetry artist, Olivastri has built his career through hands-on practice, moving across cabinetmaking, restoration, and teaching, in a continuous dialogue between tradition and the transmission of knowledge—an approach that earned him, in 2024, the title of MAM – Maestro d’Arte e Mestiere from the Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte. Specializing in the restoration of Boulle furniture, he has developed a deep knowledge of materials and techniques, combining his workshop activity with many years of teaching experience. Today, alongside the rigor of restoration, he explores a more personal and expressive dimension, where marquetry becomes a field of creative research.

Architect and designer Fabrizio Felici and contemporary art manager Martina Carcangiu are the founders and artistic directors of Mustras, a project born in Sardinia in 2019 and developed through the contribution of a collective of artists, architects, designers, and artisans engaged in an investigation of the idea of dwelling. By weaving together theory and practice, tradition and design, in just a few years Mustras has given life to more than ninety unique objects. These works emerge from an interdisciplinary dialogue that allows them to move beyond everyday use and enter a more extraordinary sphere—one in which objects can once again be recognized as bearers of meaning, from a contemporary rather than nostalgic perspective. At the heart of the project lies the role of Sardinian artisans, true custodians of the essential bond between material, territory, and tradition.

Hands that care are not only those of medical professionals or body practitioners. More broadly, they are the hands of artisans — hands that tend to the material of the world, mastering the very technique of beauty. With this belief, Patrizia Ramacci, master craftswoman in plasterwork and founder of the Bottega d’Arte Gypsea in Gubbio, has created a poetic and ambitious project, constantly evolving: the Archive of Masterful Hands, a collection of plaster casts of the hands of outstanding Italian artisans from every field. A tribute intended to grant them a form of immortality, but also a celebration of the intimate joy of making that those hands embody.

Since 1935, Florence has been home to a goldsmith’s workshop specializing in silverwork that has gradually established itself as a true academy of the craft. The founder Carlo Foglia first, then his son Giuliano, and for many years now his grandson Lorenzo have all helped write the recent history of the silversmith’s art, creating extraordinary objects and training chasers who have taken their expertise not only throughout the city but around the world.
Today, the works of Lorenzo Foglia—named a MAM, Maestro d’Arte e Mestiere, in 2018—are the mature fruit of an absolute command of traditional techniques, a broad historical culture, and an expressive freedom which—much like in the finest Renaissance workshops—elevate his sculptures and all his silverwork to the status of high art. In his words, one senses all the awareness and passion of a craftsperson who looks to Cellini and Leonardo as guiding spirits.

Born into the craft, Daniele Mingardo is a young yet established master of metalworking who, at a very early age, transformed his family’s successful business into a thoroughly contemporary project. Passionate about design and naturally drawn to challenges, at just 25 Daniele shifted the perspective of the metalworking company founded in 1970 in Monselice (Padua) by his father Ilario. Alongside commissioned work, he introduced a collection of handcrafted objects with an elegant, minimal style, designed by a network of international designers under the guidance of an art director and produced in limited editions. A successful idea that did not sacrifice but instead enhanced Mingardo’s artisanal soul, giving rise to a new brand that embodies the essence of contemporary craftsmanship.

Emilio Salvatore Leo, architect and designer, may not be a master of the arts in the classical sense, but he is undoubtedly a master of lateral thinking—a perspective that has allowed him to reinvent his family’s historic wool mill, transforming it into a creative hub with an international outlook, open to a variety of influences and narratives. By experimenting with intangible assets—history, brand identity, relationships—he reconnected Calabria’s oldest textile factory not only with the territory where it was founded in 1873, but also with the rest of the world. He achieved this by shaping the project with a clear political vision, even before an entrepreneurial one: our land, our people, and our art are the very essence of Made in Italy.

"It’s hard to make people understand what lies behind a cameo." That’s how our conversation with Fabio Ottaviano began—marked by a sense of pride and a hint of mystery. Ottaviano is a master artisan of miniature shell cameo engraving based in Torre del Greco, close to Naples. Son of Pasquale—himself a student and heir to Giuseppe Scialanga, one of the great Neapolitan cameo masters of 19th-century —Fabio spoke to us about the daily joy of creating beauty with infinite precision and passion. He also shared the deep satisfaction that comes from seeing his sacrifices recognized, and the challenges of working in a system that, in Italy, still struggles to properly support and protect its artisans.

Laura di Giovanna Nocito creates unique jewelry from the coral of Sciacca — a treasure the waters offered to the Sicilian town nearly two centuries ago — making this precious gift of the sea "sing." The heir to a family whose legacy has been shaped, generation after generation, by remarkable women, Laura was named a MAM – Master of Arts and Crafts in 2024 for her extraordinary talent in the goldsmith's art. In the following interview, she shares the captivating, almost mythical tales that led her to make coral her life’s craft.

To celebrate the arrival of spring, the Biblioteca degli Alberi in Milan has been graced with a new rose garden, which now hosts the Rosa Mestieri d’Arte, a variety specially created by the Pistoian nursery, Rose Barni, for the Cologni Foundation. The scientist, farmer, and craftswoman responsible for bringing this unique variety to life—an eloquent metaphor for a delicate yet powerful world that transforms raw matter into beauty—is Beatrice Barni. A descendant of a family that has, for four generations, given birth to new expressions of beauty, she is also an expert in hybridization, a craft for which she was honored as a MAM (Master of Art and Crafts) in 2018. An undoubtedly unique and distinctive profession within the world of craftsmanship, of which Beatrice has unveiled some of its many secrets.

Inspired by their mother's artistic flair, in 1997 Giuseppe and Antonio Bevilacqua founded a ceramic workshop in a small Sicilian town in the province of Caltanissetta, where they create the typical products of Caltagirone and Santo Stefano di Camastra ceramics - such as Moorish heads, pinecones, and tables - in a more contemporary style, while still using traditional techniques. With passion and determination, the brothers achieved recognition in a relatively short time, eventually forming high-profile collaborations, such as with Dolce&Gabbana, and in 2022, they received the title of MAM – Maestro d’Arte e Mestiere (MAM – Masters of Arts and Crafts’accolade) from the Cologni Foundation for the Métiers d’Art.


Rita Turri, Master of Arts and Crafts 2024 in wood marquetry, inherited from her father Carlo, founder of the Tarsie Turri workshop in Anagni (in the province of Frosinone), the technique and sensitivity to find the harmony in which a few dozen or a thousand pieces, patiently composed in a refined geometric and chromatic balance, can coexist.

The words of the Master from Sorrento show all his infinite passion and dedication to an ancient art that is nourished by traditional values, authenticity, commitment and great joy, as much for the craftsman as for those who can enjoy his creations.

Martha Pachón Rodríguez was born in Santa Fe de Bogotá in Colombia. She graduated in Fine Arts at the Universidad Surcolombiana in Neiva and later moved to Italy, continuing her training at the Ballardini Ceramic Art Institute in Faenza, and specialising in stoneware and porcelain. Today the artist and craftswoman is internationally renowned, and carries on a work that combines fine Italian craftsmanship, contemporary design and the Andean and Afro-Caribbean influences of her origins.
In her atelier in Faenza, she creates both porcelain sculptures and light and conceptual installations. Over the years, he has developed a personal research on translucence and colour, using the ancient techniques of porcelain working, and revisiting them in a contemporary key.
Her work is focused on the themes of magic and sacredness, eroticism and human and animal migrations, producing extremely refined works that require great patience and skill.
She co-founded and was the director of the Faenza Art Ceramic Centre, a hub for ceramic training. She is a member of the IAC - International Academy of Ceramics.

Lunardelli Venezia is a craft company founded in 1967 by Angelo Lunardelli.
After working for years alongside their father, siblings Sebastiano and Agnese took over the family business, and they now run the workshop, still keeping intact the old know-how and the values that inspired its foundation: high craftsmanship, Italian excellence, exquisite workmanship. However, their pieces are distinguished by the skilful combination of tradition and contemporary design, resulting in unique and sought-after objects.

Simone Cenedese inherited his glasswork workshop from his father Giovanni, who founded it in the 1970s in Murano. The company immediately become a renowned excellence in the field of glassworking. Simone, thanks to his talent and inventiveness, and his spirit of innovation, has also made the furnace an international point of reference for many designers who wish to experiment with Murano glass, and give shape to their ideas. Over the years, the master has developed a unique style, creating original objects with a contemporary taste. His works are pure and brilliant, and are obtained through a secret mixture of minerals. His creations are available in various colours and can be customised on request, even with the application of gold or silver leaf and other special finishes. The company also creates large avant-garde works that are often exhibited in prestigious public spaces and concept stores. The furnace and the showroom will open their doors to the general public, with guided tours and other experiences, on the occasion of "Homo Faber in Città", an initiative curated by Fondazione Cologni and the side-event of the great exhibition "Homo Faber: The Journey of Life".

Attombri is a craft workshop in Venice, where glass, combined with other materials such as copper and silver, becomes costume jewellery and furnishing accessories. Since the late 1980s, brothers Stefano and Daniele Attombri have been interpreting the history, techniques and potential of this material in a contemporary way, creating accessories and elements that combine fashion, interior design and applied arts. They make lamps, decorative and functional objects, but above all extraordinary jewellery: their pieces are all unique and handcrafted, they are whimsical and timeless objets d'art that continue the tradition of Venetian “perlere” (bead makers), combined with techniques of their own invention with Art Nouveau influences. Their works have been published and exhibited all over the world, from Europe to the United States and Japan. They have won the “New Talent 2006” award of “More”, the Milan jewellery fair. They have collaborated with prestigious companies such as Dolce & Gabbana, Romeo Gigli and Pauly.