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"Ariento" Consortium
List of Members
Tradition of Florentine Silverware
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[ Page 1 of 4 ]  Granted
that in the past, craftsmen working in silver or gold, or
metals plated with either silver or gold, were
generically called goldsmiths, one can affirm that the
Florentine silver tradition, is without a doubt,
as ancient as the city itself. However, only in 1322,
after having organised themselves in a more stable
manner, did the silversmiths start to play a role in the
Florentine institutional life, uniting with the Arts of
Por Santa Maria, one of the most important corporations
in Florence. It had raken its name from the door of the
most ancient part of the walls around Florence, situated
almost on the Arno itself. Today, it is the homonymous
road that leads in the Ponte Vecchio, and where the
majority of workshops, of various crafts, were situated.
This included the silversmiths, whom formed a part, as
they resided in that area. Art was naturally controlled
by statues, the necessary rules to fix the silversmiths'
internal lives and their relationships with and among
other members, their requisites, their characteristics,
and the limits of their practised activity. Let alone, to
dictate their political lives and economic and commercial
strategies. Such regulations were of the norm, as one was
able to manufacture, due to an agreement with the Town
Hall, who were infact, the contractors for trades and
relative professions, that is all the Arts together. Of
which, seven major and fourteen minor arts, that
according to Florentine political order, held the
gouvernment of the state, using their members. Amongst
the Art statutes, there were also some specific titles
regarding silversmiths, considered "important
members", specifying their functions and treating
them with great respect, finding it difficult to impose
severe sanctions for the violators, that worked honestly
and with great care, high quality metals, in the
interests of the clientele, and for the prestige of Art.
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