The Gipsoteca of the Ferdinando Marinelli Foundry and of the Bazzanti Gallery
Our treasure, in addition to the artistic work capacity of our artisans, is that of the Ferdinando Marinelli Gipsoteca, preserved in sheds to this reserved.
La nascita della Gipsoteca Ferdinando Marinelli
Ferdinando Marinelli Senior, that started the Artistic Foundry in 1905, performed the negative molds on the original classical masterpieces Greeks, Etruscans, Romans and of Renaissance.
In the first decades of the ‘900 Ferdinando Marinelli Senior had the permission from the various authorities to perform the moulds of such sculptures directly on the originals present in the museums, in some churches and in the Italian squares.
In those years it was still possible, for accredited people for the ability to perform moulds without damaging masterpieces, to obtain authorization.
La gipsoteca continua a crescere
The collection of original moulds continued to be enriched with the current owner Ferdinando Marinelli Junior: often Museums and authorities require the Foundry to make moulds on masterpieces to be kept indoors and to replace them with replicas made by the Foundry, granting the use of such moulds. The ability to work, the care and the attention to the masterpieces on which to perform the moulds is fully recognized to the Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry by all the authorities and directions of Italian and foreign museums.
When the Italian Government in 1930 decided to donate a bronze replica of Michelangelo’s David to the city of Montevideo, Uruguay, it authorized Ferdinando Marinelli Senior to mould the original preserved in the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence.
Bronzo per Mussolini
The Louvre Museum went as far as Florence to have the bronze replica of the Bust of Louis XVI (Versailles, Paris), made by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1665 during his stay in Paris. The sketch was taken to the Ferdinando Marinelli Foundry in Florence to make the mold on it for a bronze replica destined to Benito Mussolini’s private collection.
It is thanks to these original moulds that the Fonderia Ferdinando Marinelli can carry out its renowned bronze replicas, and sculpt marble replicas in their studio.
