Try to ask some locals\u00a0about\u00a0the former convent where, during the 15th century, family Medici brought all the Florentine goldsmiths workshops together. Most of them will\u00a0not have a clue.\u00a0In here, since 1948 Paolo creates and restore jewelry and other artistic works nearly the same way\u00a0they did in Renaissance time.<\/p>\n Several years ago Paolo’s\u00a0daughter in law and skilled jewelry maker Daniela, who studied goldsmithing at Istituto statale d’arte of Florence, took over the company from him. Paolo’s passion for his craft\u00a0never faints. Fire and crucibles! It’s time to melt some pure gold. We were told that Paolo’s workshop has a strong Renaissance flavor. It’s true. We\u00a0discover the ancient technique of cuttlefish bone casting<\/em>, for instance. We were staring with amazement at Paolo while he was pouring the melted gold into a couple of cuttlefish bones previously molded into a specific shape. The workshop overlooks Santo Stefano al Ponte court. From its window you can spot a beautiful ancient\u00a0stone water well. The church itself, along with its\u00a0Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art<\/a> rooms, the goldsmiths guild chapel and meeting room, is worth a visit.<\/p>\n\r\n\t <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Did we mention that Paolo walked us through the making of an hammered gold neckless? We pounded gold rings until flat, the same way goldsmiths did 2000 years ago. It was fascinating.\u00a0We’ve never imagined to handle ourselves such a precious material. Credits: foto\u00a0di Daniela- Casa dell’Orafo<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “Get ready to see shining gemstones, pure gold and silver amid crucibles and chisels! The excitement will be great and you’ll spot a sparkle in your children’s eyes .”- Paolo, goldsmith in Florence, Italy Promise kept: even though we at Italian Stories are not kids anymore, our eyes sparkled several times by watching Paolo at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":261,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[116,114,118],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.italianstories.it\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/casa_orafo_firenze_italian_stories_02.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.italianstories.it\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.italianstories.it\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.italianstories.it\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.italianstories.it\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.italianstories.it\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=842"}],"version-history":[{"count":41,"href":"https:\/\/www.italianstories.it\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":931,"href":"https:\/\/www.italianstories.it\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842\/revisions\/931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.italianstories.it\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.italianstories.it\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.italianstories.it\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.italianstories.it\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"casa_orafo_firenze_italian_stories_04\"](\"http:\/\/www.italianstories.it\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/casa_orafo_firenze_italian_stories_04.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n Book a visit at Paolo and Daniela goldsmith workshop in Florence<\/a> on Italian Stories website<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n“He overcame the 1966 flood of Arno river <\/a>– there are still signs on the walls, and the 1993\u00a0Massacre of via dei Georgofili<\/a>. He still works\u00a0hard every day, often overtime, but\u00a0he will never retire: he enjoys his job too much.<\/p>\n
\nOf course our eyes sparkled. It would happen to you as well, if you were here.<\/p>\n
\nThe\u00a0gleam of the jewels on the workbench, the wide range of\u00a0tools, the way\u00a0he and Daniela create their works of art tell us stories we’ve never heard until today.<\/p>\n
\nDaniela and Paolo\u00a0gave us also an interesting account of \u00a0Florentine goldsmith history, starting from Etruscan\u00a0age.<\/p>\n![\"casa_orafo_firenze_italian_stories_05\"](\"https:\/\/www.italianstories.it\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/casa_orafo_firenze_italian_stories_05.jpg\")
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"casa_orafo_firenze_italian_stories_01\"](\"https:\/\/www.italianstories.it\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/casa_orafo_firenze_italian_stories_01.jpg\")
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"l'osso](\"https:\/\/www.italianstories.it\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/casa_orafo_firenze_italian_stories_03.jpg\")
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\nWhy don’t you try to experience yourself?<\/p>\n Book a visit at Paolo and Daniela goldsmith workshop in Florence<\/a> on Italian Stories website<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"visit_paolo_goldsmith_florence\"](\"http:\/\/www.italianstories.it\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/goldsmith_paolo_in_florence_visit_italian_stories.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\n While in Venice, discover Marino’s workshop, where the ancient craft of goldbeating leaves on\u00a0<\/a>by booking a visit on\u00a0Italian Stories website
![\"Goldbeater](\"http:\/\/www.italianstories.it\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/vist_goldsmith_venice_italian_stories.png\")
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