L'Italo-Americano

F iligree is magic: gold or silver threads, twisted to- gether to create ephemeral shapes and delicate patterns. There is something so incredibly allur- ing in filigree jewelry, perhaps because it is such an ancient tradition and one so strongly tied to our penin- sula, too. However, today, the art of f i l i g r e e h a s a l m o s t d i s a p - peared, and only one center remains in Italy, the small Ligurian village of Campo Ligure, to keep it alive. The w o r d f i l i g r a n a ( f i l i g r e e ) appears in the Italian lan- guage in the 17th century, p r o b a b l y t h a n k s t o a F l o r e n t i n e l i t e r a r y m a n called Lorenzo Magliotti. V e r y l i k e l y , t h e t e r m c o m e s f r o m t h e L a t i n filum (thread) and granum (granule, or grain), which well describe the texture and look of filigree objects. But if we want to discover the origins of filigree, we need to step back in time and travel to the Middle East. According to historians and archaeolo- gists, the first examples of it are objects dating back to 2.500 BC, with filigree jewelry found during excavations of the city of Troy (or what we believe to be Troy), in mod- ern-day Turkey. Objects in fil- igree, especially jewels such as bracelets and necklaces, were also found in Tutankhamon's grave, which means that the Egyptians were well-versed in t h e a r t s o m e 1 5 0 0 y e a r s before Christ. It was the Minoans first and the continental Greeks at a later stage that developed the art further and, eventually, t h r o u g h t h e i r c o l o n i e s i n Southern Italy, exported it to Western Mediterranean. The first examples of filigree in Italy come from the 8th centu- r y B C a n d a r e f o u n d i n E t r u r i a , t h e o l d l a n d o f t h e E t r u s c a n s , b e t w e e n Tuscany, Latium, and Emilia Romagna. The roots of the Etruscans are mysterious but most historians today agree they probably originated from Asia Minor, an area where the art of filigree was also com- mon: it is easy to imagine, then, how they, just like the Greeks in the South of Italy, brought this delicate art to our shores. The Etruscans would create intricate and refined works, representing both ani- mals and people, showing their mastery of the craft. Around the 6th century A D , a f t e r t h e f a l l o f t h e Western Roman Empire, new filigree-making techniques were imported to the country during the Barbaric Invasions. The Goths, the Lombards, and the Franks were all expert goldsmiths, who used filigree to decorate their weapons. In the Middle Ages filigree was used especially for the produc- tion and decoration of reli- gious objects, such as chalices, candelabra, and crosses; in t h e s a m e c e n t u r i e s , j u s t between the end of the 10th and the beginning of the 11th, China also produced everyday objects with the technique. While, as we have seen, the art of filigree-making was known and relatively common i n I t a l y s i n c e p r e - R o m a n times, it was only after the first Crusades, around the beginning of the 13th century, and the rise to power of cities like Genoa and Venice, which traded greatly with the East, t h a t f i l i g r e e t r u l y b e c a m e important. Key centers for the creation of filigree art were Florence, Agrigento, Genoa, Naples, Turin, Venice, and Sardinia. But it was in the 19th and e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r i e s t h a t Italian filigree took over the world. Just to give you an idea, in 1882, Italy exported to the US more than 45 tons of silver filigree and more than 10 tons of gold filigree. It was a florid industry that gave work to plenty of people and symbolized the artistic flair of so many areas of Italy. Unfortunately, though, time took a negative toll on the fili- gree-making art. As it happens all too often, younger genera- tions have little to no interest in carrying on the traditional crafts of their fathers and, today, filigree is produced only in the small village of Campo Ligure, in the Genoa province of Liguria. Gone are the fili- gree-making communities of S a r d i n i a , P i e d m o n t , a n d Naples, because no one was up to carry on their work. Particularly striking is the loss o f t h i s a r t i n S a r d i n i a , a region that was once consid- ered pivotal in filigree produc- tion. It was, in 1884, goldsmith Antonio Oliveri who brought the art of filigree to the village, after having learned all there was to know about it at the Genoese atelier of the Grasso family, renowned jewelers of the Ligurian capital. Legends say that Oliveri had left Genoa to escape from a cholera epi- demic that had hit the city, but it is perhaps more likely he decided to move his business to the countryside to save some money. Today, there are twenty fili- gree-making ateliers in Campo L i g u r e a n d t h e M u s e o Civico della Filigrana, the C i v i c M u s e u m o f F i l i g r e e , where some 200 pieces of beautiful filigree are exhibited, grouped based on their geo- graphical origin. The museum is an interesting visit for all j e w e l r y l o v e r s , a s i t h e l p s understand how this peculiar a n d a n c i e n t a r t e v o l v e d through the centuries. The lost art of filigree CHIARA D'ALESSIO Silver filigree work. The only place in Italy where filigree is produced is the tiny village of Campo Ligure (Photo: taurus- photo/Shutterstock) HERITAGE HISTORY IDENTITY TRADITIONS PEOPLE !"#$%&'()*+%,('$%-."/012%314$.5$67(%"88$.1%(%9".$%(:',$6'5-+% 599$.15#$%$;4$.5$6-$<%=6)56$%".%56%4$.1"6<%!$(.6%9".$% (60%15>6%:4%8".%(%8.$$%6$/1)$''$.%('%!!!"#$%#&'#()*"+&, !""#$%#&'()$%#*+ &!,&-.#&/#0$1&2+ &!10*3 !"#$%&'()*+%,-'().,/012 THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 34 L'Italo-Americano

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