Cameos gifted to Felipe IV and Mattarella

Cameos gifted to Felipe IV and Mattarella

17-12-2024

Last 12 December, at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples the ceremony for the awarding of the PhD Honoris Causa in Social sciences and statistics from the Federico II University to HM King Felipe VI of Spain was held in the presence of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella.

Before the event, the Rector of the University of Naples Federico II, Prof. Matteo Lorito, donated two works to the King of Spain Felipe VI and President Mattarella, made by the historic company of Torre del Greco Aucella.

Torre del Greco has been the world capital of coral and cameo processing for over 200 years, and the works epitomize this excellence.

With our company we enthusiastically accepted the request to design and create unique pieces, following precise indications on the contents, but adding its own artistic style, using the typical cameo workmanship on natural shell.

The works reproduce the University's coat of arms. Being large in size, the first challenge was to find suitable shells to achieve the intent and above all flat enough. We then moved on to the drawing and engraving, all strictly by hand as per ancient tradition, using only burins. A job that lasted several weeks, which also saw the use of new technologies such as 3D printing, to design and create around the 2 works suitable bases to support them and enhance their details. The bases were then painted by hand. Nothing was left to chance, and so even the frame was created in an artisanal way following a style and colors that recall the official ones of the University.

In order to thank the Rector for involving our company, we have created a work that faithfully reproduces the Palace of the University of Naples Federico II.

Also present at the ceremony was Vincenzo Aucella, fourth generation of the Aucella family, who followed the birth of these unique works together with his brother Manuel step by step. Vincenzo had the honor of explaining to the Spanish royals and President Mattarella the peculiarities of this ancient art, to enhance the works to the maximum, also giving some historical information on the birth of this tradition right in the shadow of Vesuvius.  

<< In the company's history, we have created works for various Popes, heads of State, authorities. But you never get used to the emotion and above all to that sense of responsibility that you feel in the previous months spent between drafts, projects and realization >> - so Vincenzo Aucella who adds - << This time the commissioned works were 2, and precisely because they are unique pieces, we accepted the challenge and immediately turned our project to the cameo. The Cameo identifies our city, Torre del Greco, the only town in the world to have this typical workmanship and which adapts to almost any type of customization. As often happens, for reasons of secrecy, we only know who will receive the gift a few weeks later, when the work is almost complete. This always leaves us breathless, a work almost in the dark, but all this teamwork has been repaid by the importance of the two authorities who will receive them. There are several artisans working on a job like this, each with their own specificity: from those who specialize in the raw material, to our artisans who choose the best ones and work them, to the designer who designed and created the 3D prints, to those who created the frame following specific instructions, and finally to the photographer and videographer who immortalized these works to allow us to enrich our company archive with a new and prestigious piece>> - concludes Vincenzo - << We seized this opportunity, not only for our company but also for the valorization of MadeinTorredelGreco, of all the artisans who for over 200 years have passed down an artistic tradition that makes the city of Torre del Greco recognizable throughout the world. And to thank the Magnificent Rector for all this, we designed and created a unique work that faithfully reproduces the University Palace. >>