We toured Museo Laboratorio Studio Moretti Caselli located in Perugia.
Just before opening the door to the studio there was this cute walkway. I love all the stone and ancient buildings in Italy. There is so much character in any Italian city or village.
Maddalena Forenza is the daughter and current owner and her mother is Anna Matilde Falsettini. Anna showed us around the Perugia studio which was fantastic; she shared with us many different items. Maddalena continues to make stain glass windows and is the fifth generation.
I’m saving the best for last, at the end of this post is probably one of the most beautiful intense works of stained glass. The piece took a full year to make.
Incoronazione della Vergine – Coronation of the Virgin
Bartolomeo
Anna described or demonstrated the steps in making a stained glass window from start to finish. So many wonderful things to see and learn about the history of stained glass. Below she is holding a photo and on the table lies the stained glass piece they are working on.
The first photograph below is an oil painting, a preparatory study which was made before the stained glass window portrait of Queen Margherita of Savoy. The second photograph is a picture I took of the actual stained glass portrait of Queen Margherita of Savoy. It truly looked like a photograph the workmanship was the most incredible thing I ever saw and it took an expert, Francesco Moretti, a full year to produce. Francesco was the founder of the studio in Perugia in 1858.
Vetrata con ritratto della Regina Margherita di Savoia – Stained glass window with a portrait of Queen Margherita of Savoy
The differences from how the process is done today as oppose to how it was done in the past is amazing. Anna took us through the old part of the studio and explained the techniques used today and in the past. There was an old Vintage Apple emac computer and an old stove klin they used many years ago.
Patience is a big must when doing this type of work and you must be a true artisan (French) or artigiano (Italian). There is a risk of breaking at various stages even when baking and cooling.
On the hundredth anniversary of Francesco Moretti’s death, November 22, 2017, Studio Moretti Caselli will speak about his innovative work. For more information please go to http://turismo.comune.perugia.it/poi/studio-moretti-caselli-museo-laboratorio-di-vetrat.
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