# Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry

43°29′03.6″N 11°08′06.0″E﻿ / ﻿43.484333°N 11.135000°E﻿ / 43.484333; 11.135000
The Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry (abbreviated as FAFM), is a bronze foundry based in Florence, Italy. It uses the Renaissance-era technique of lost-wax. The foundry has created numerous bronze sculptures over the past century. Among its notable works is the 1988 casting of the 'La Fontana del Porcellino', a replica of Pietro Tacca's famous boar statue, which replaced the antique version in Florence's Loggia del Mercato Nuovo in 1998.

## History

The foundry began in 1905, when Ferdinando Marinelli established a small workshop on Via de’ Giudei (now Via Ramaglianti) in Florence. Marinelli, born in Piegaro, Perugia, moved to Florence as a teenager and apprenticed under prominent artisans, including Cusmano Vignali and Gabellini. He mastered both stirrup manufacturing and the lost-wax casting technique during this period.
In 1915, Marinelli joined Alessandro Biagiotti's Fonderia, then purchased the former Gabellini's foundry on Via del Romito (now Via Filippo Corridoni) after World War I. During this era the foundry crafted monuments commemorating World War I, including works in Piazza Dalmatia (Florence), Poggio a Caiano, Barberino Val d’Elsa, and Cerbaia, collaborating with artists like Mario Moschi and Odo Franceschi.
The Marinelli Foundry also produced monuments for Barberino Val d’Elsa and Cerbaia. In 1925, the Foundry erected the monument to the painter Giovanni Fattori. In 1927, the Florence Chamber of Commerce recognized the Marinelli Foundry's reputation for exceptional casting quality. Their unique acid-based varnish preserved the natural bronze sheen while maintaining its warm tonalities, solidifying the foundry's status as a producer of enduring works of art.

## Notable castings

A selection of notable works and monuments executed by the Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry.
| Year | Artist | Title | Location | Country |
| 1925 | Valmore Gemignani | Giovanni Fattori | Livorno | Italy |
| 1927 | Mario Moschi | Monument to the Fallen Monumento ai caduti | Piazza Dalmazia, Florence | Italy |
| 1929 | José Belloni | The Pioneer’s Cart La Carretta dei Pionieri | Parque Batlle, Montevideo | Uruguay |
| 1930 | Guglielmo Colasanti | Madonna degli Angeli | Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, Assisi | Italy |
| 1930 | José Belloni | William Tell Gugliemo Tell | Parque Rodó, Montevideo | Uruguay |
| 1932 | Antonio Maraini | Bramante Staircase, Vatican Museums | Vatican City | Vatican City |
| 1932 | Posthumously of Michelangelo | Pietà, Museo Soumaya | Mexico City | Mexico |
| 1939 | | Tomb of Pope Pius XI | Vatican City | Vatican City |
| 1944 | Vico Consorti | Door of Thanksgiving Porta della Riconoscenza | Siena Cathedral | Italy |
| 1949 | Leo Friedlander | Sacrifice | Arlington Memorial Bridge, Washington, DC | United States |
| 1950 | Vico Consorti | Porta Santa Holy Door | St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City | Vatican City |
| 1953 | Giovanni Cappelletti | Christopher Columbus | Newport, Rhode Island | United States |
| 1960 | Valteroni | Door, Cathedral of Oropa Porta della Cattedrale di Oropa | Sanctuary of Oropa | Italy |
| 1969 | Mario Moschi | Sacred Heart Door Porta del Sacro Cuore | Basilica del Sacro Cuore, Sassari | Italy |
| 1972 | Bruno Burracchini | Catherine of Siena | Fortezza Medicea, Siena | Italy |
| 1984 | Sergio Benvenuti | Fountain of the Two Oceans Fontana dei due oceani | San Diego, California | United States |
| 1989 | Robert Dean | Monument to Dwight Eisenhower Monumento a Eisenhower | Grosvenor Square, London | United Kingdom |
| 1998 | Posthumously of Pietro Tacca | Porcellino Fontana del Porcellino | Loggia del Mercato Nuovo, Florence | Italy |
| 1998 | | Restoration of Kremlin Halls | Grand Kremlin Palace, Moscow | Russia |
| 1999 | | Handrail, Vatican Museums Corrimano della Nuova Rampa dei Musei Vaticani | Vatican City | Vatican City |
| 2001 | Sergio Benvenuti | Broncos' Fountain | Sports Authority Field at Mile High, Denver | United States |
| 2006 | Posthumously of Giambologna | Bacchus Bacco | Borgo San Jacopo, Florence | Italy |
| 2007 | Posthumously of Ghiberti | St. Matthew San Matteo | Orsanmichele Church, Florence | Italy |
| 2008 | Posthumously | The Etruscan Minerva Minerva Etrusca | National Archaeological Museum (Florence) | Italy |
| 2008 | Valentina Stevanovska | Warrior on Horseback | Macedonia Square, Skopje | North Macedonia |
| 2008 | Posthumously of Donatello | David (with gold plating) | Bargello, Florence | Italy |
| 2010 | Posthumously | Chimera of Arezzo | National Archaeological Museum (Florence) | Italy |
| 2013 | Arto Tchakmaktchian | Espoir | Laval, Quebec, Montreal | Canada |