Giusy Moretti
The artistic legacy of the master glassmakers Moretti
(Historical Murrine from 1870 to 1923 )
I'm Giusy Moretti, I want to tell you this wonderful story in a nutshell:
I created a collection of jewelry dictated more by feeling than by reason.
The memory, the strong emotions and the passion for glass transmitted to me by my father Ulderico Moretti - great eclectic glass artist (1892-1956) - inspired me.
That same passion that, in the seventies of the nineteenth century, brought my great-grandfather, Vincenzo Moretti, to discover the secret of the ancient Roman technique of fused mosaic (or murrino glass, from "Murra", the latter term borrowed from Pliny the old man in his "Naturalis Historia").
It was precisely Vincenzo Moretti who dabbled with his son Luigi to create one beautiful gallery with the faces of the characters of the time (From Pope Leo XIII to William of Prussia, passing through Vittorio Emanuele II, Garibaldi and many others.
Until reaching the stupendous incarnate of the face of Christopher Columbus - murrina the latter realized in 1892 for the IV Centenary of the discovery of America and personally brought as a gift to the Chicago authorities by Luigi himself.
Currently a sample of this Murrina is kept at the Corning Museum of
Glass (New York) "The most beautiful Gems of Italian Art", so they were called the Murrine dei Moretti at the Paris Universal Exposition of 1878.
The technique - absolutely "incredible" that has nothing to do with the realization of the modern murrine millefiori - it was also resumed by my father Ulderico (son of Luigi) in the 1920s, when the island of Murano was annexed to the municipality of Venice.
It was in those years of political fury that he created a real life in Murrina
"explosion" by Galletti (Il Gallo has always been the symbol of the island of Murano), which they soon became the expression of dissent with regard to annexation besides strong demand for autonomy.
It should be noted that the realization of these works had the sole purpose of putting in the virtuous talent of the master glassmakers of the time was emphasized: they took months and in some cases years before being able to complete a single Murrina, e all in order to get the pride of donating their most important museums in the world creations. They were therefore devoid of commercial ends.
When my father died, I received a small "treasure" in a cardboard box:
the treasure that since I was a child I had always loved a lot!
Since then, Papi, Regnanti, flowers, roosters and cockerels inspire unique and original ideas.
Now those ideas can take concrete form and be realized.
Here are the unique, exclusive and unrepeatable jewels that give life back to these ancient miniatures.
In 1990 I was invited to present the Murrine of my family at the Murrine exhibition entitled Miniature di Vetro from 1873 to 1924 at the Palazzo Ducale in Venice.
For the occasion, I created a pair for the opening day of earrings. You will adopt - without being absolutely aware of it - right the murrine which were later chosen as the symbol of the exhibition, as well as as the cover of the catalog.
Almost a natural appeal of these wonderful creations to those who love them! Since then, pushed also by some glass historians, I started to exhibit in various Galleries in Italy and abroad, giving new energy to these wonderful creations. The original technique, rediscovered towards the end of the nineteenth century, is nowadays gone, at least for the most part.
Apart from the manual skills of the Artist it would be economically impossible today reproduce these works.
I conclude this mine in the hope of having you intrigued and inviting you to view the collection on my website www.giusymoretti.it