Fortunato Pio Castellani (6 May 1794 – 1 January 1865) was a 19th-century

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

jeweller A bench jeweler is an artisan who uses a combination of skills to make and repair jewelry. Some of the more common skills that a bench jeweler might employ include antique restoration, silversmith, Goldsmith, stone setting, engraving, fabricat ...

and founder of Castellani, an Italian jewellery company. Castellani opened his first shop in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1814. Geoffrey Munn He specialised in recreating the jewellery of ancient craftsmen, particularly the

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, rou ...

. Castellani based many of his designs directly on archaeological evidence and often incorporated intaglios, cameos and

micromosaic Micromosaics (or micro mosaics, micro-mosaics) are a special form of mosaic that uses unusually small mosaic pieces (tesserae) of glass, or in later Italian pieces an enamel-like material, to make small figurative images. Surviving ancient Roman ...

s into his jewellery. His work became very fashionable throughout 19th century

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and his shop was frequented by

grand tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tut ...

ists and aristocracy. The Castellani dynasty spanned three generations, and, were also noted antiquarians.

Life

Castellani opened his first workshop in

in 1815. Initially, his designs reflected the fashions of the day and were generally based on French and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

jewellery of the period. However, in the 1820s, Castellani began to develop the style for which he would become most famous. In collaboration with his friend and sponsor

Michelangelo Caetani ''This article contains material translated from the Italian Wikipedia's version of this page.'' Michelangelo Caetani, Duke of Sermoneta and Prince of Teano (Rome, 20 March 1804 – Rome, 12 December 1882), was a notable political figure, goldsmi ...

- later the Duke of

Sermoneta Sermoneta is a hill town and ''comune'' in the province of Latina (Lazio), central Italy. It is a walled hill town, with a 13th-century Romanesque cathedral called Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and a massive castle, built by the Caetani f ...

and a noted archaeologist - Castellani began to draw inspiration from archaeological discoveries particularly those of the pre-Roman Estruscan culture. In 1836, archaeologists discovered the

Regolini-Galassi tomb The tomb known as the Regolini-Galassi tomb is one of the wealthiest Etruscan family tombs in Caere, an ancient city in Italy approximately north-northwest of Rome. The tomb dates to between 650 and 600 BC, most likely in the 640s BC. Based on ...

, a particularly important Estruscan find that yielded a large amount of beautifully preserved jewellery. Because of his expertise in the field and his connections with Caetani, Castellani was enlisted as an advisor on the excavation. Much of the jewellery excavated was decorated with granulation - tiny specks of gold applied to the surface. This technique was unknown to 19th century jewellers and Castellani was inspired by the discoveries to rediscover the lost art. In the 1850s, Castellani passed management of the family business to his two sons Alessandro (1824–83) and Augusto (1829–1914) in whose hands it continued to flourish. The family were keen collectors and in addition to their jewellery business they dealt and restored antiquities extensively. Castellani's main shop was immediately adjacent to the

Trevi Fountain The Trevi Fountain ( it, Fontana di Trevi) is an 18th-century fountain in the Trevi district in Rome, Italy, designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Giuseppe Pannini and several others. Standing high and wide, it is the lar ...

, one of Rome's most prestigious locations, and incorporated a museum of the family's collection.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castellani, Fortunato Pio 1794 births 1865 deaths Italian jewellers

Life

Further reading

References