START YOUR JOURNEY THROUGH TIME AND HISTORY OF THE FOUNDRY
1956
Door of Bogotà, Colombia
The monumental door, 8 meters high and 3.6 meters wide, was commissioned for the Archbishop’s Palace of Bogotà (Colombia) by Cardinal Chrisanto Loque, who turned to the sculptor Vico Consorti. It was cast by the Ferdinando Marinelli Foundry in 1956.
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1957
Minerva, Bogotà, Colombia
Commissioned by the Bank of the Republic of Bogota to the sculptor Vico Consorti in the period of his stay in Colombia, the sculpture was executed only after his final repatriation in 1956, in the Rome studio, with the help of his faithful collaborator Roberto Petri. A series of photographs preserved by the heirs, documents the long design phase and execution of the figure, modeled first naked, then dressed with various types of draperies and iconographic attributes. Further evidence of the serious and prolonged application of Consorti on each subject requested to him.
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1960
Doors of Oropa Cathedral, Biella, Italia
The new church of Oropa was consecrated on August 20, 1960. Three different artists worked for the realization of the three bronze doors: Sergio Vatteroni from Carrara for the left door, Vico Consorti from Siena to the central door and Virgilio Audagna from Turin for the right one. The door are bronze bas-reliefs made by the Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry of Florence. Considerable effort was for the transportation and installation. Suffice it to say that the three portals together weigh more than 11 tons.
The Sanctuary of Oropa is now recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
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1965
Fountain of the Sea Monsters, Livorno, Italia
In 1956 after the discovery of the original molds, the Mayor of Florence, Giorgio La Pira and the municipality of Livorno, on the occasion of the 350th anniversary of the designation of the first standard-bearer of the Tuscan province, commissioned the Fonderia Marinelli to produce casts after the originals of the two ‘Fountains with Sea Monsters’, executed in bronze by Pietro Tacca in 1629 for Cosimo I de’ Medici. The Grand Duke Medici had at first intended it to be placed on the dock at the port of Livorno. He subsequently changed his mind and ordered them to be placed in Piazza Santissima Annunziata in Florence, where they are to be seen today. They were cast at Fonderia Marinelli in 1965 and placed in Piazza Colonnella in Livorno.
1968
Naiads for UN Headquarters, New York, USA
In 1962 the UN Committee for Outdoor Furnishings commissioned the Fonderia Marinelli to make posthumous first edition originals of the Naiads by Ammannati which form part of the Fountain dedicated to Neptune located in Piazza della Signoria in Florence.
1969
Door of Sacred Heart in Sassari, Sassari, Italia
The construction of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Sassari began in July 1943 and was completed at the end of the 1960s. In 1969, the Fonderia Marinelli cast the monumental door whose model was executed by the sculptor Mario Moschi.
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1969
Cellini’s figures, Firenze
In 1969, the Superintendence of the City of Florence asked the Fonderia Marinelli to make the molds from the original sculptures of the four figures at the base of Cellini’s ‘Perseus’ in Piazza Signoria, Florence, (Jupiter, Mercury, Danae and Minerva) and to cast posthumous first edition original to replace the original pieces, now at Bargello Museum.
1971
Children of Lir, Dublino, Irlanda
In memory of the Irish rebellions against the British Government, the sculptor Oisin Kelly made the sketch of the ‘Children of Lir’ monument to be placed in the Garden of Remembrance, Parnell Square, Dublin. At the Fonderia Marinelli the artist supervised the enlargement of the monument which was sent to Dublin and inaugurated in 1971.
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1972
Saint Catherine of Siena, Italia
The monumental statue of St. Catherine of Siena, created by Bruno Buracchini and donated to the Diocese of Siena, was cast by Fonderia Marinelli in 1972. It was placed at the base of the Spanish fortress of Siena, which was destroyed in 1552 and rebuilt by Cosimo I de’ Medici after the conquest of Siena in 1555.
1976
Stele of friendship, Firenze, Italia
In 1976 the City of Florence commissioned the Fonderia Marinelli the cast of this stele made by Architect Auzzi on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the flood of 1966 as a sign of gratitude towards the students who came from all over the world and contributed to the rescue of a large number of works of art. They were called “mud angels” (‘angeli del fango’).
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1977
Monument to Don Facibeni, Firenze, Italia
Since the 1920s the sculptor Antonio Berti has cast most of his portraits and monuments at the Fonderia Marinelli. In 1977, he honored Don Facibeni, who died in 1958, with a statue placed in front of the Church of Santo Stefano in Pane, Rifredi, Florence and cast it at the Fonderia Marinelli.
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1978
MARTIN LUTHER KING
The statue depicting civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was inaugurated on May 7, 1978. The statue cast in bronze by the Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry in Florence was designed by sculptor Rudolph Torrini. On the base of the statue is engraved:
HIS DREAM – OUR DREAM
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. 1929-1968
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1984
Fountain of Two Oceans
In 1982, Mr. Patrick Bowlen, President of Bowlen Holding Inc., decided to place a work of art at a new skyscraper which was being built in San Diego. He wished that it be created in Florence, one of his favorite cities. For this purpose his collaborator, the Florentine Dudi Berretti, came to the Fonderia Marinelli. Ferdinando Marinelli Jr. and his close collaborator Sergio Benvenuti proposed a series of drawings and sketches, among which a fountain that recalls, in a classic style, the two oceans that frame America. The project continued with two visits to San Diego and various visits of Berretti and Bowlen to Florence and was terminated by the creation of the two enlarged models in clay and the bronze casting.
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