page_title: Pontificia Fonderia Marinelli
section_title: Craftsmanship
hierarchical_section_title: Pontificia Fonderia Marinelli / Craftsmanship
caption_attribution_description: English: "Crocifisso" bell of the Leaning Tower of Pisa
context_page_description: The Pontificia Fonderia Marinelli is the successor of a bell foundry already at work in Agnone, Italy in 1040. The bell foundry is considered Italy's oldest family business and among the three oldest family businesses worldwide. In addition to a bell foundry, it is an artisan foundry that produces bronze portals, bas-reliefs, church artifacts, and bell restorations.
context_section_description: The firm's managers still apply the same lost wax casting technique that the firm's founders used nearly a thousand years ago. The artisans use wax to transfer the bell's designs onto a brick "core" slathered with clay, slightly smaller than the bell to be cast. Another layer of clay is applied to form a "false bell". After this hardens, the wax inside is melted, leaving the imprint of the design on the inside of the false bell.  Molten bronze, at a temperature of 1,200 degrees Celsius (2,200 degrees Fahrenheit), is poured into the space to form the bell.
caption: Marinelli's Leaning Tower of Pisa bell
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