joseph engraver
Elite Cafe Member
Following the wonderful thread that I have discovered, has unraveled some fond memories, which I hope you will enjoy.
"January 11, 1982, Dear Sir,
I have come to Italy in pursuit of my dreams of learning to engrave.
Most respectfully yours
Joseph"
Mr. Giovanelli took his time to read the note, and then asked through the interpreter how did I get there…
“I hitchhiked.†I answered,
My heartbeat rapidly increased as the interpreter asked to present my identification, which I promptly did. Then he began to question the fact that the passport said Joseph and nothing else. I explained it by saying that I was an orphan and knew neither my mother nor my father.
“How long do you intend to stay?â€
“Until I learn,†I answered.
“How much money do you have?â€
“Sir, I have one hundred and forty seven dollarsâ€
“How will you support yourself? The school cannot give you employment.â€
“I can take care of myself,†I replied, after a few more questions. The interpreter asked me to go outside and wait on the terraced courtyard. I walked outside across the grey cobblestones, past the sculptures in marble, bronze, and welded steel. From the end of the terrace, you could see down the length of the entire valley, far below lay the red tile roofs of the town Gardone Val Trompia. I found a place to sit in the sun for it was cold and windy, once I was comfortable I began to pray.
A half hour had passed when the secretary came back for me. She escorted me back into Signor Giovanelli’s office.
The interpreter then said, “Signor Giovanelli has decided to accept you into his school, he would like you to go out to the engraving room and cut a steel plate so that he may judge at what level of competency you are.â€
Taking my tool bag, I followed Signor Giovanelli into the engraving room. It was such a sharp contrast to Mr. Hearst’s company that I became very confused and nervous, everything was neat and orderly, each of the twenty engravers had their workstations placed directly in front of a plate glass window, which flooded the entire long, tiled floor room with indirect north light. Signor Giovanelli accompanied me to the workstation of the Maestro, where the interpreter introduced us. The Maestro was a thin, intense, bearded man wearing eyeglasses with pink tinted lenses, Renato Sanzogni. The adjacent work station was cleared and a brightly polished block of steel 6 inches long, 2 inches wide and 2 inches thick was placed in the floor mounted, rotating, engravers vise. I opened my tool bag to remove Magnivisor, hammer and chisel, the Maestro staid my hand as I went to place the magnifier on my head, he then spoke rapidly to the interpreter as he examined my chisel, its point, and my hammer.
The interpreter said, “The Maestro says that you cannot use the magnifying device and that your tools are not good.â€
The maestro handed me a small fragile chisel and a tiny hammer weighing about 3 ounces. Signor Giovanelli then spoke to the interpreter and the Maestro. The Maestro then shook my hand, took a compass and scribed several lines on the steel block placed it in the vise, then the interpreter said,
“The Maestro would like you to cut these linesâ€.
"January 11, 1982, Dear Sir,
I have come to Italy in pursuit of my dreams of learning to engrave.
Most respectfully yours
Joseph"
Mr. Giovanelli took his time to read the note, and then asked through the interpreter how did I get there…
“I hitchhiked.†I answered,
My heartbeat rapidly increased as the interpreter asked to present my identification, which I promptly did. Then he began to question the fact that the passport said Joseph and nothing else. I explained it by saying that I was an orphan and knew neither my mother nor my father.
“How long do you intend to stay?â€
“Until I learn,†I answered.
“How much money do you have?â€
“Sir, I have one hundred and forty seven dollarsâ€
“How will you support yourself? The school cannot give you employment.â€
“I can take care of myself,†I replied, after a few more questions. The interpreter asked me to go outside and wait on the terraced courtyard. I walked outside across the grey cobblestones, past the sculptures in marble, bronze, and welded steel. From the end of the terrace, you could see down the length of the entire valley, far below lay the red tile roofs of the town Gardone Val Trompia. I found a place to sit in the sun for it was cold and windy, once I was comfortable I began to pray.
A half hour had passed when the secretary came back for me. She escorted me back into Signor Giovanelli’s office.
The interpreter then said, “Signor Giovanelli has decided to accept you into his school, he would like you to go out to the engraving room and cut a steel plate so that he may judge at what level of competency you are.â€
Taking my tool bag, I followed Signor Giovanelli into the engraving room. It was such a sharp contrast to Mr. Hearst’s company that I became very confused and nervous, everything was neat and orderly, each of the twenty engravers had their workstations placed directly in front of a plate glass window, which flooded the entire long, tiled floor room with indirect north light. Signor Giovanelli accompanied me to the workstation of the Maestro, where the interpreter introduced us. The Maestro was a thin, intense, bearded man wearing eyeglasses with pink tinted lenses, Renato Sanzogni. The adjacent work station was cleared and a brightly polished block of steel 6 inches long, 2 inches wide and 2 inches thick was placed in the floor mounted, rotating, engravers vise. I opened my tool bag to remove Magnivisor, hammer and chisel, the Maestro staid my hand as I went to place the magnifier on my head, he then spoke rapidly to the interpreter as he examined my chisel, its point, and my hammer.
The interpreter said, “The Maestro says that you cannot use the magnifying device and that your tools are not good.â€
The maestro handed me a small fragile chisel and a tiny hammer weighing about 3 ounces. Signor Giovanelli then spoke to the interpreter and the Maestro. The Maestro then shook my hand, took a compass and scribed several lines on the steel block placed it in the vise, then the interpreter said,
“The Maestro would like you to cut these linesâ€.
