BULGARI ARCHIVES: Quadrifoglio FUNDS RESTORATION OF HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE
Beginning in December 2018, work began on the restoration and securing of the Costantino Bulgari Archive, one of the priceless heritages of the goldsmith sector, concluded in March 2019.
Quadrifoglio with great pride has participated in the restoration and securing of the Archive, offering to be a financier of the initiative. The BVLGARI Archive represents an invaluable asset not only for the gold sector but also has great cultural value.
Quadrifoglio has been present in the Arezzo area and in the goldsmithing market for over forty years, and wanted to enhance the worldwide, territorial and personal goldsmithing tradition by bringing its contribution to the restoration work carried out by Cristina Merelli under the direction of Prof. Paolo Torriti.
It is in fact an exceptional collection of documents, on Italian goldsmiths and silversmiths, from the 14th to the 19th century, the result of the research and photographic campaigns conducted by Costantino Bulgari son of Sotiris Voulgaris founder of the BVLGARI company, and architect of the company’s development together with his brother Giorgio.
The Archive consists of countless documents, paper files of thousands of stamps, realizations on Italian objects and silversmiths, photographic prints, about 2300 glass plate negatives and about 300 drawings on paper by Giovanni Valli, the historical designer of BVLGARI.
In 2010, Costantino Bulgari’s daughter, Anna Bulgari Calissoni, donated the entire collection to the Department of Education, Human Sciences and Intercultural Communication in Arezzo (University of Siena).
Today, the entire collection is kept at the department’s History and Technique of Goldsmithing laboratory (Lab. Or), the restoration work was conducted by Dr. Cristina Merelli under the scientific direction of Prof. Paolo Torriti professor of History of Modern Art and Director of the Master’s program in History, Design and Marketing of Jewelry.
March 2019 saw the completion of the first phase of the work, which involved direct intervention on the 37 folders of the Archives; the intervention was made possible thanks to a number of sponsors who financed the entire initiative: Giovanni Raspini Spa, Quadrifoglio Spa, Mariella Bertoneri.
WHY FUND THE RESTORATION OF THE BULGARI ARCHIVE?
“Guardare al Futuro mantenendo le proprie Radici”
This is Quadrifoglio’s motto, but being able to look to the future while maintaining one’s roots is much more than a principle on which to base one’s business activities.
It means being aware that we have a past to tell every day.
It means knowing where we come from in order to know where we want to go.
It means appreciating and recognizing an asset that is even more precious than gold: our History.
