Francesco Raimondi

Ceramicist

©Francesco Raimondi

Ginevra Formentini ©Michelangelo Foundation

©Francesco Raimondi

Rooted in his region

Francesco started making ceramic objects as a child
In 2016 he received the MAM Maestro d'Arte e Mestiere prize
He is particularly inspired by mythology and local legends

Vietri sul Mare has been a centre of ceramics since Roman times, thanks to the clay found in the mouth of the Bonea river, around which sprung up a unique town with a terracotta heart. “If you scrape the plaster off the houses you will find waste material from the furnaces,” explains Francesco Raimondi, one of the area’s undisputed masters of ceramics. He learned this art as a child; after school, he would run to the workshop of Bambiniello, an artisan living in his neighbourhood. One day his master decided to put him to the test. “He had just finished firing a horse, and he told me to take it away and decorate it. He liked the result so much that he agreed to train me during my free time after school.”

Interview

©Francesco Raimondi

Ginevra Formentini ©Michelangelo Foundation

After this first experience, how did you continue your training?: I enrolled in art school, but I soon had to leave to help my mother, who was suddenly left on her own. I started working in workshops, then one day I met Giovannino Carrano, a former pupil of Richard Dolke, the German ceramicist who settled in Vietri in the 1920s and breathed new life into ceramics here.
How do the area’s stories and legends inspire you?: Some of the stories have been passed down from generation to generation, and they tell of mythological creatures, of mermaids and soothsayers. These legendary characters have always stimulated my imagination and influenced my creations.
Why are your ceramics also inspired by Islamic culture?: This is also tied to the history of this region. The ceramics produced in Vietri were traded for other raw materials that were transported to our coasts by ships coming from faraway countries, in particular from North Africa.
What is innovative about your work?: The shapes and designs. Over the years, I have had a number of apprentices in my workshop. To each of them I explained that the difference between an artisan and a master lies in their point of view: the master can convey his own, and make it recognisable.

Francesco Raimondi is a master artisan: he began his career in 1969 and he started teaching in 1980