Fortunato Pio Castellani

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Fortunato Pio Castellani" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Fortunato Pio Castellani (6 May 1794 – 1 January 1865) was a 19th-century

Castellani opened his first workshop in Rome in 1815. Initially, his designs reflected the fashions of the day and were generally based on French and English jewellery of the period. However, in the 1820s, Castellani began to develop the style for which he would become most famous. In collaboration with his friend and sponsor Michelangelo Caetani - later the Duke of Sermoneta and a noted archaeologist - Castellani began to draw inspiration from archaeological discoveries particularly those of the pre-Roman Estruscan culture.

In 1836, archaeologists discovered the Regolini-Galassi tomb, a particularly important Estruscan find that yielded a large amount of beautifully preserved jewellery. Because of his expertise in the field and his connections with Caetani, Castellani was enlisted as an advisor on the excavation. Much of the jewellery excavated was decorated with granulation - tiny specks of gold applied to the surface. This technique was unknown to 19th century jewellers and Castellani was inspired by the discoveries to rediscover the lost art.

In the 1850s, Castellani passed management of the family business to his two sons Alessandro (1824–83) and Augusto (1829–1914) in whose hands it continued to flourish. The family were keen collectors and in addition to their jewellery business they dealt and restored antiquities extensively. Castellani's main shop was immediately adjacent to the Trevi Fountain, one of Rome's most prestigious locations, and incorporated a museum of the family's collection.

Further reading

• Dr. A. E. Alexander (1975) The Jewels of Fortunato Pio Castellani And Carlo Giuliano, pp.  20–26. Gemological Institute of America, USA, Vol. 15, No. 2 (Summer 1975)

References