Angela Caputi has always been a pioneer. She opened her first atelier and bijouterie store in Florence in 1975, trying to reunite worlds which were traditionally very distant: the centuries-old world of Florentine craftsmanship and the excitement of fashion. In her craft, she experimented with innovative materials and revealed an exceptional sensitivity for the world of colour. But she is also one of the first examples of feminine entrepreneurship and all her collaborators are women. After many years – and after receiving international recognition for her work – the spirit of time and women are still her primary sources of inspiration, to create pieces that express enthusiasm and lust for life, creativity and freedom.

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This striking and unique necklace is made of many strands of black and turquoise beads twisted with little coral branches in gold. The whole necklace is made of synthetic resins.

Coral branches necklace

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This geometrical clip earrings have been cast in black and white synthetic resins. Parts are linked together with nickel free metal pieces. Every single earring showcases a different design, which makes it very unique. It is also the thousandth piece created by the Florentine Maison.

Anniversary eardrops

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This choker is made of synthetic resins and cotton strands with a unique design based on geometric shapes. Flat hexagonal slats create a simple but striking necklace. Half of the necklace is transparent and half is black.

Queen necklace

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These elephant brooches are part of an ongoing collection made using synthetic resins. The hump is embroidered by hand and all the colour combinations are carefully studied by Angela. The stylised elephant – with an upwards trunk – is a symbol of good luck.

Elephant brooch

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Multiple strands of beads are twisted together in this necklace, which is made with lightweight materials such as synthetic resins and Swarovski crystals. One of the most popular styles made by Angela during the 1980s, this necklace is still available.

Panther necklace

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The Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d'Arte is a private non-profit organisation founded by Franco Cologni in Milan in 1995 to bring about a renaissance in artisanal crafts and secure the future of craftsmanship. The foundation’s initiatives are primarily focused on young people and the training of the next generation of artisans. It supports and carries out a number of cultural, scientific and educational programmes, including the development of an important collection of publications related to craftsmanship, an innovative apprenticeship scheme, and a brand new title to recognise and celebrate master artisans.

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“I am delighted to feel a young old man of 71: it means I still have something to say!” Giampaolo Babetto was happy to have won the 2019 Wallpaper Design Award in the Best Stealth Health category for the table set in silver that he created with design duo Studio Swine. This is just one of the many prestigious awards he has received in the course of his long career, among them the prestigious MAM Maestro d'Arte e Mestiere prize, which he was given by the Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte in 2018. “It’s always very rewarding to receive recognition for the efforts one has made in maintaining one’s identity,” he explains.

Babetto, Giampaolo

Unique jewellery inspired by Italy

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A passion for art and architecture and a degree in Art History led Valentina Romen to work in the fine art scene for many years, as a restorer and organiser of museum and gallery exhibitions. But manual work has always been an unfulfilled desire, at least until she attended the Scuola Orafa Ambrosiana in Milan, and she became a jewellery maker. “In 2017, I decided to devote myself completely to jewellery making and this became my job. It’s a dream-like profession, I’m very grateful that I’m able to express my creativity through carefully selected shapes and materials, like bronze and clay. Jewellery is not merely the fusion of metals, but rather visions coming from distant worlds,” she explains.

Romen, Valentina

Bronze treasures

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“My passion for this craft was born from the desire to give shape to my creativity,” says Francesco Tramontano. “Jewellery enable me to transform my ideas and immediately give them a material and tangible shape.”  His choice to become a jewellery maker was influenced by his origins: for three generations his family has specialised in the production of metal accessories for leather goods. “I immediately became passionate about jewellery, which gave me the opportunity to approach the craft experimenting with new and different materials, far from the classic goldsmith's art.” Francesco creates unique pieces with precious and semi-precious metals, glass, shells and wood collected near the sea. His shop in Naples hosts both his collections and his work bench.

Tramontano, Francesco

A Neapolitan tradition

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Born in Milan, Valeria Sacchi Boncompagni chose Venice, her mother’s hometown, to live and build her career. After working for years in her family jewellery shop (founded by her grandfather, Icilio Boncompagni, in Piazza San Marco, in the 1920s), she decided that being a skilled and passionate seller wasn’t enough for her: she felt the need to handcraft jewels. Thanks to her artistic training, she turned to an ancient technique: lost wax casting. Today in her “bottega” (studio and shop) in Piazza San Marco, Valeria creates mostly – but not only – wearable micro sculptures using gold, silver, bronze, coral, hard and precious stones. Her detailed artworks are meant to tell a story, they’re sentimental and symbolic creations: “Working with wax enables you to stay in touch with your most intimate emotions and shape them.”

Sacchi Boncompagni, Valeria

Shaping stories and emotions

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Your authorizations

Developed in partnership with Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte and made possible by the support of Cartier, Homo Faber in Città gives you a rare chance to visit over 70 artisan workshops. The project is developed in collaboration with Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Confartigianato Imprese Venezia, CNA Venezia, Consorzio Promovetro Murano, The Venice Glass Week and Venezia da Vivere.

Our Partners

Step inside the workshops and ateliers to learn the secrets of local master artisans and manufacturers

Try your hand at different crafts with an authentic experience

Marvel at examples of fine craftsmanship by doing our itineraries

This september, the second edition of Homo Faber in Città invites visitors to step off the beaten track and discover the artisanal addresses where Venetian craftspeople create objects of exquisite beauty. A rare opportunity to witness Venice’s master artisans and young talents demonstrating their crafts and presenting the tools, materials and skills involved in contemporary Venetian craftsmanship.

Enrich your experience beyond Homo Faber 2024: The Journey of Life

Account and data history

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Homo Faber Guide is an online portal dedicated to contemporary craftsmanship, showcasing artisans, ateliers, museums, galleries, shops and experiences. Create your user account for access to exclusive features on Homo Faber Guide: save your preferred pages, hear about hot topics first, leave recommendations for your favourite artisans and much more.

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Although the Michelangelo Foundation researches the talents for its projects autonomously, collaboration with our ambassadors is fundamental. Over 120 associations, schools and institutions allow us to map the continents for craftsmanship and to have partners in each country who share our vision and goals. In addition, we have asked well-known personalities in the craft, design and art world to be our ambassadors in the cities where they live, so that their recommendations can offer a unique insight into craftsmanship in the major cities of Europe and beyond.

Who are our ambassadors?

Download our free Homo Faber Guide app (iOS and Android) to discover artisans, museums, galleries, shops, and experiences by location. Search Homo Faber on the App store on your mobile device.

Find craftsmanship destinations on the go

Discover the addresses of esteemed manufacturers, well known for producing high quality objects across a wide variety of crafts. Read their stories and find out where you can shop their contemporary pieces, see their archive collections and even in some cases visit their workshops. Find exceptional ateliers where artisans collaborate creatively to create fine pieces of craftsmanship. Reach out to them to commission something special.

Ateliers & Manufacturers

All the artisans and small workshops featured in Homo Faber Guide have been carefully researched and selected. They are presented and narrated through a selection of images and an interview, which allows readers to immerse themselves in the universe of these makers who exemplify excellence in their individual fields or are promising talents of the future. Find masters and rising stars who share the same passion and determination, and whose workshops are ready to share their secrets with visitors.

A selection of the best artisans

Are you eager to discover a city through craftsmanship? Do you wish to spend a few hours visiting an applied arts museum or attending a course on a craft with one of the masters featured in Homo Faber Guide? Browse the section dedicated to experiences and find your next adventure.

Experiences

An expert artisan is an accomplished artisan who has been in activity for more than ten years. He or she may also be engaged in passing on their knowledge to the next generations, but they have been doing so for less than seven years. Beyond this, they will become a Master artisan.

Who is an Expert artisan?

Homo Faber Guide provides you with a selection of the best addresses across Europe and further afield, where you will be able to discover and purchase exceptional objects, some of which are created by artisans featured in Homo Faber Guide.

Galleries

Homo Faber Guide is an online platform dedicated to craftsmanship that allows you to discover artisans and their masterpieces; explore museums, visit galleries and shops selling unique objects; enjoy experiences in cities across Europe and beyond.

Homo Faber Guide is a signature project developed by the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship, an international non-profit organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, which was set up in 2016 thanks to the intuition of Franco Cologni and Johann Rupert. The Michelangelo Foundation’s mission is to celebrate and preserve master craftsmanship, and for this reason it has created a map of the most significant representatives in this field, with the aim of connecting all its protagonists: artisans, designers, gallery owners, art curators, collectors and enthusiasts of high-quality handmade pieces.

About the Guide

Are you an artisan, atelier or manufacturer? Would you like to be featured in Homo Faber Guide? The Michelangelo Foundation encourages self-assessment initiatives and is pleased to evaluate new members to appear on the Guide or in other projects. Thanks to the Master’s Touch Evaluation Tool, every artisan can send their application: register and access a questionnaire to see if you fulfill the 11 criteria for excellence that stand behind all the activities of the Michelangelo Foundation. If your answers reach the minimum requirement, your application will be brought to our attention; if, on the contrary, you should score below the minimum requirement, we will give you some points for improvement, in the hope that you may participate in future initiatives of the Michelangelo Foundation.

Join the Homo Faber Guide!

Our artisan labels

A master artisan is an accomplished artisan who has been in activity for more than ten years, and who has also been engaged in passing on his or her expertise to the younger generations for more than seven years. This is in keeping with one of the key values of the Michelangelo Foundation: the transmission of knowledge in craftsmanship.

Who is a Master artisan?

Find museums handpicked for their links to contemporary craftsmanship and the exquisite collections they have on display. In each city, discover a museum of interest and organise your visit. From Italian museums displaying coral collections, glass pieces and ceramics to decorative art museums in Russia and Greece, marvel at the variety of museums exhibiting masterpieces, showcasing techniques and recounting histories.

Museums

A rising star is an artisan who has been active for less than ten years, and who is capable of expressing his or her craft with competence, creativity and originality. Whether self-taught or trained, the rising star represents the future of craftsmanship, in creativity, concerns and approaches.

Who is a Rising star?

The artisans featured in Homo Faber Guide have been selected through a meticulous assessment process based on the 11 criteria for excellence, identified by Alberto Cavalli, Executive Director of the Michelangelo Foundation, in the volume The Master’s Touch, written with researchers Giuditta Comerci and Giovanna Marchello. The members of the Michelangelo Foundation’s network who have been invited to participate in sourcing artisans for the Guide use an evaluation tool based on these criteria. In this way, they can identify the most suitable artisans to include in the project.

Simple rules for a transparent selection

In which city does the artisan work?

In which country does the artisan practise?

What craft does the artisan practise?

What is the artisan’s Instagram page?

What is the name of the artisan you are recommending?

Does the artisan have a website?

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