Comenius Project “Lost in Time”

IS “Majorana” Palermo (Italy)

Preparation of a Silver Panel to be chiseled.First video Here we have a silver panel in which we are pouring lead. First we put the panel in a clay lay, then we make a clay cage and after

that we fix the panel with nails to avoid the lifting by the pressure. We are pouring liquid lead which melt at 400°C. We use a locking device in the middle of the plate to avoid the lifting

up. The heat arches the plate under the central pressure. It takes 10 minutes to cool the plate. We try to speed up the cooling down. Here we have the lead panel. Silver is detached from lead . We preserve the clay with wet pieces of fabric to reuse it.Second video The mould is ready. We remove all the dry clay from the cage. Modeling procedure by hammer and chisel.

Adaptation and summary of the interview withchiseler craftsman, Maestro Benedetto Gelardi , athis workshop in the old city centre of Palermo.

Mr Benedetto Gelardi is a chiseler craftsman and hehas been working in his workshop for 30 years. Hestarted his apprenticeship when he was 16 withMaestro Lopez and at 21 he began on his own.

His workshop is specialized in restoration andmanufacturing of religious objects (Cup, Pix,Monstrance, Font, holy water buckets, etc ), but theyalso realize non-religious silverware such as bowls,coffee sets, trays, candleholders mostly in Baroque andEmpire artistic style.

It is a labored and demanding job and the bestapprenticeship is one to one person (pupil andteacher) in a workshop. They perform all kinds ofwork, but there is no danger except some burns by tar.

Chisel does not fear technology because craftsmen stillwork with steel handmade chisels and hammers ofdifferent measures and sizes . They do not usemachinery as embossed work and chisel are done byhand. Machinery is used in other silverware sectorssuch as turning, pressing.

They work for the local demand ( Church ) andproduce various religious object mainly for Americancustomers from Jewish origin. But nowadays theinternational trade decreases due to the globalfinancial crisis and cheaper foreign handicrafts. Thefirst-class quality of Italian raw material and therefined characteristics of the products determinehigher prices.

A drawing is reproduced by carbon paper on the flatsilver plate on which they hammer modeling thefigure and the volume for the mould. They work on asoft tar frame to perform the lengthening of the metal.The aim of the tar surface is to avoid the panel breakand to chisel gently. During this procedure they oftenreheat the plate to get a constant soft surface for theembossed works.

Silver and lead are not compatible and lead makesholes in silver by heating. Therefore to avoid thiscorrosion, they isolate the metals with a light powderlayer called “ terra d’ombra “, a powder that cabinet-makers use to fill up woodworms holes in furniture. Itis diluted with water and this slight protection on thesurface separates the two metals. When it is cold theyclean the surface with a sponge to start modelling.

Video and Interview Courtesy of CRICD

Centro Regionale per l’Inventario, la Catalogazione e laDocumentazione dei Beni Culturali della RegioneSicilia.

Regional Centre for Inventory, Cataloguing andDocumentation of Cultural Heritage of the SicilianRegion.