Fri, 10 February 2012
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The centuries-old foundry that supplies bells to the Vatican, while priding itself on being Italy's oldest family business, is beginning to fear for its future.
For whom the bell tolls
"The Vatican gave us the title of pontifical foundry in 1924, and the (Roman Catholic) Church today accounts for 90 percent of our orders," Marinelli said. "Our biggest bell was created for the Jubilee in 2000: five tonnes and six metres (20 feet) in circumference."
The foundry produces about 50 bells a year, "sometimes fewer when there are larger ones," veteran craftsman Antonio Delli Quadri said, standing in a room stacked from floor to ceiling with plaster moulds of Madonnas, saints and decorative friezes.
The artisans use wax to transfer the designs onto a brick "core" slathered with clay, slightly smaller than the bell to be forged.
Another layer of clay is applied to form a "false bell."
After this hardens, the wax inside is melted, leaving the imprint of the design in negative on the inside of the false bell in the technique known as "lost wax."
Molten bronze, at a temperature of 1,200 degrees Celsius (2,200 Fahrenheit), is poured into the space to form the bell.
A passionate task
"A bell foundry is anything but an assembly line,” said Marinelli. “You have to have a passion to create."
The foundry is considered Italy's oldest family business and among the three oldest family businesses worldwide, according to the American magazine Family Business.
The business, which employs about a dozen workers, is among Europe's 12 remaining big foundries.
"Our main fear is that the family dynasty may end,” Marinelli said. “We think about it all the time. I have three small children, and so far the workshop is just a playground for them."
"My great-grandfather was a bell maker, but unfortunately I'll be the last because my two children are doing completely different things,” said Antonio Delli Quadri, his sparkling blue eyes set off by a shock of white hair. “That's how it is."
So what’s the secret to making a bell with perfect timbre?
"The base, where the sound comes from, should not be overloaded with designs, and its proportions must follow very precise mathematical rules," said Delli Quadri. "And a good founder should be able to produce the entire chromatic scale.”
Delli Quadri then picked up a wooden mallet and performed an impromptu concert on 10 big bells hanging in the workshop. Their deep tones reverberate in the eardrums of everyone listening. It is perhaps the origin of the Italian expression "deaf as a bell."
Katia Dolmadjian/AFP/Expatica
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