Goldsmith’s art

From "THE GOLDSMITH" of Edoardo Saronni 1927 and from notes of Fedele Caffini chiseller in Milan

Goldsmith’s art was surely the first art to appear, even if rudimental, as the first expressive form when the desire of the beautiful awoke in the man. From it, then, all the other art forms derived, as the man proceeded from the desire to embellish himself to the desire to adorn what was around him. Our far parents, still wild, living in the caves, on pile dwellings, used everything for decoration, of the body before, of the hut then: twisted yarns, asymmetrically gathered shells, leaves, feathers, nails, and animals’ bones, corals. The tattoo itself, forgive me the paradox, is an embryonic form of goldsmith’s art. It was begun with the repetition of the same leaf, of the same coral, of the same little shell, identical for all the circle of neck, arm, foot; then, small pieces were alternated to big ones, and finally centres were formed, and then the tinier pieces were disposed around them in a various and harmonic way in order to break off the geometric monotony, with an innovation in the aesthetic vision of shape and colour, than introduced the rising of the sculpture, the painting and the perspective sense.

And so a harmonic composition, with interlacements of animals and refined arabesques, reaches us. The colour shines in glazes and gold, sparkles in gems with a pleasure that falls from the eyes into the heart.

The inspiration can come from any beautiful thing, that can appear in this way all around: from the magnificence of a sunset, to the light shade of a dawn; from a hanging twig of flowers, from a dried up thistle, from the peacock to the coleopter, from the solemn sparking of a starry night, to the weal web of a spider.

But the art of the goldsmith does not halt with the rutilant jewel of precious stones; he decorates centrepieces, flowerpots, coffee sets, dishes, amphoras, trays, and he sees the matter’s richness but mostly the grace of the line and the attitudes.

Who observes with love eye, draws from art creations the same pleasure that a rich landscape of light, a deep gentle music can give. A sure guide can be the simple and sincere inspiration and the desire to express an own way to see and feel, without apparent effort, after the intimate and mature consideration, as if the work had come nearly in one go, because piling up lines and patterns without plans has always meant the end and the poverty of the inspiration also in our art.