Marino Menegazzo

Berta Battiloro

Gold leaf beater

Susanna Pozzoli ©Michelangelo Foundation

A rare master of a demanding craft

Marino uses hammers weighing up to 8kg to beat gold into leaves
In 2018 he was awarded the Maestro d'Arte e Mestiere (MAM) prize
He took up this craft from his father-in-law in 1975

The craft of goldbeating reached Venice from Byzantium around the year 1000, when trade relations were thriving. In the capital of the Empire this craft was used to create mosaics, but in the Serenissima Republic it was implemented in a new and innovative way: ultra thin gold leaves were used to embellish the glass for which Venice became a world leader, as well as to magnify the prestige of banquets staged by the city’s rich inhabitants, who were willing to get into debt in order to serve dishes covered in gold. “However, it was not until the 18th century that the goldbeating craft reached its height,” explains Marino Menegazzo, master goldbeater. “In Venice there were 300 goldbeaters; together with glassmakers, they were the only artisans who could marry a woman of higher rank. But to prevent their guild from becoming too powerful, they could not own the gold they worked.”

Interview

Why did goldbeating disappear in the 19th century?: The advent of Austrian rule changed everything. The use of gold was less widespread, artisans in Vienna were favoured over Venetian ones, and little by little the workshops closed one after the other. Only in the 1920s did one of my wife’s ancestors persuade her husband to reopen his workshop.
How did that come about?: She and her husband were running a stationery shop, selling gold leaf coming from Florence. Business was good, so in 1926 they decided to open the goldbeating workshop Rivani Battiloro. My father-in-law, who used to work for them, took over in 1969. That’s how Berta Battiloro was born.
How did you take up the craft?: When my father-in-law asked me to join, in 1975, I barely knew what goldbeating was. In the beginning, I wasn’t particularly taken by the craft, but then my family went through a difficult moment and I found myself working on my own. That’s when everything changed.
What is your advice to a young person interested in becoming a goldbeater?: To have patience, a lot of patience. Sometimes the days seem neverending, working hammer in hand. That’s why it’s hard for me to find someone to help my daughters continue the business after I retire. This craft is not only extremely demanding, but it also requires perfect technique and unfaltering attention.

Marino Menegazzo is an expert artisan: he began his career in 1975