My name is Roberto Grimani, I was born in Milan where I live and work.
I am a technical designer. I did not follow artistic studies, but I have various years of experience in workshops
learning my craft ("rubą el mestč"... as they say in Milan). I began attending the workshop of
Master Chiseller Fedele Caffini on via Cesare Correnti in Milan at the end of the 70's. At the same time,
I completed a course accredited by the Lombardy Region on the art of the goldsmith. I do work with the chisel on
a non-professional level with a great deal of passion and enthusiasm. In the near future, I hope to make public
Master Fedele Caffini's precious archive of original drawings on the art of the goldsmith. These archives were
left to me by Master Fedele Caffini in his will for the specific purpose of passing them onto enthusiasts of this art.
The art of EMBOSSMENT and CHISEL, "the TOREUTICS", is both noble and ancient.
The TOREUTI were held in great esteem and honor in ancient Greece where this
Art achieved its highest levels.
The CHISEL is one of the numerous non-cutting tools suitable for creating any
decorative drawing by means of hammer blows on metal leaves.
These small steel bars, about 11 cm long, with an appropriately modeled and tempered tip,
are made by the chiseller himself according to his requirements, and the number of chisels used on a piece varies
according to the type of work to be done. On the average roughly 250 chisels are needed.
The piece completed by the CHISELLER is identified with the name of this tool,
but where the work appears more or less in relief resulting from extensive working, the word CHISEL is associated
with the word EMBOSSMENT. The technical difference between embossment and chisel is that, in the first case,
the relief is obtained on the opposite face of the leaf working in negative, whereas in the chisel technique the metal
leaf is modeled in positive. In any case, EMBOSSMENT and CHISEL are always complementary, even if there
can be pieces which use only one or the other. The chiseller's hammer is also a very important tool, having a unique,
level and flat shape, the handle being thin in the middle and large in the handgrip. The best handles were made from
the CORNEL TREE, which has a very hard wood. The CHISEL moves on the metal surface, while the hammer strikes
on the CHISEL with a regular rhythm. A good CHISELLER must be first of all a good drawer to have
literally infinite production possibilities using the techniques of EMBOSSMENT and CHISEL. No limits exist for
a TOREUTA who, using simple and ancient tools, can do practically anything and impose himself on the material without
offending but rather exalting it. Precisely because of their purity and authenticity, the choice of using these work
tools stems from the fact that they cannot determine the work development, as instead often happens with modern
mechanical tools. They force one to follow a continuous creative effort and a steady research of new ideas. True that
greater time is employed, but time also allows for reflection and reflection favors research.
