4 Women, 1 Century and Glass, Colour and Light

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23rd March Perugia glass #heygo http://www.heygo.com



After more than one hundred and fifty years the Moretti Caselli Studio is still working; Maddalena, who represents the fifth generation, carries on the family tradition.

Maddalena Forenza was born in 1980.



As soon as she was the right height – work-table level – she started to work seriously, or almost, reproducing her drawings with small scraps of coloured glass.

Some more years went by, but passion and desire to learn increased, and so one day mother and daughter really did begin to work together, and Maddalena finally reached a decision: she would carry on the family activity.



At present Maddalena executes and restores stained glass windows: it is a unique production because she uses the painting methods which were rediscovered, studied and revised by Francesco Moretti, but she has also adapted to today’s taste and also devotes herself to new creations with different techniques. The old methods come to life again and are brought up-to-date in the execution of a wide range of works from large stained glass windows to small ornaments.



The studio was founded in 1860 by master glasspainter Francesco Moretti, whose work peppers historic churches and buildings in Perugia, throughout Italy and across the world.

During our tour we could see coloured enamel powder bottles dating to the Middle Ages; Moretti's gorgeous 15th-century residence, historic tools and kilns; and several of Moretti's masterpieces, including stunning renditions of Italy's Queen Margherita di Savoia and Perugino's Coronation of the Virgin.



This house originally belonged to the Baglioni family, possibly to Guido Baglioni . It subsequently become part of a convent and survived the demolition of the rest of the convent when the Rocca Paolina was built.

The house was then used as a police station until 1894, when Francesco Moretti restored one of the rooms of the Baglioni palace and adapted other rooms to form his studio.

The skills of Francesco Moretti have been passed down through another four generations of his family via:

His nephew Ludovico Caselli (1859-1922);
Ludovico's daughters Rosa (1896-1989) and Cecilia (1905-96); an
Their niece Anna Matilde Falsinettini Forenza; and
Her daughters, Elisabetta and Maddalena.
The last three still work in the studio.



The detail of the glass works were quite amazing.

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