Jesùs Serrato:

How It’s Made

Design Study: where it begins

Beyond facilitating the process of giving physical shape to a patron’s idea through Jesùs Serrato’s engravings, L’Arte Nascosta Founder and Creative Director, Salvatore Ambrosino, specializes in guiding our patrons through the creative process of designing the motif that best expresses the meaning that he or she would like to impart to their commission.

After consulting with the patron, we delve into our extensive archive of books and historical references and design a personalized composition comprised of various symbols and details that we extrapolate from Renaissance and Medieval Art, and other historic references.

The subject is a uniquely personal composition firmly rooted in centuries of historical provenance and distinctly Italian style.

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Techniques:

I. Engraving

When taken up by the hands of a master, there are virtually no limitations to the decorative motifs and allegorical subjects that a hand engraving tool can render on the surface of a metallic object, be it stainless steel, sterling silver, or gold.

While technological advancements have broadened the breadth of possibilities in the art of hand engraving, no pneumatic engraver, electronic microscope, or state of the art ball vice can compensate for something much more difficult to come by and, for that reason, precious: innate talent.

The hands of Jesùs Serrato embody such talent. Over the past ten years, he has kitted his workshop with the best tools in the craft, but it his natural proclivity for engraving – his delicate touch, and refined eye – that make his pieces truly “sing” in harmony and beauty.

What follows are examples of three engraving techniques that Jesùs employs most frequently in our commissions:

Surface Engraving

This basic hand engraving technique results in a decidedly two-dimensional composition, although cross-hatching is often employed to create a sense of volume and depth.

Punto Bulino

Punto bulino engraving makes use of very small dots of varying size and density to offer a sense of texture and tone to an image.

Often employed as a finishing technique, intricate compositions might also be composed entirely in the punto bulino technique.

Scuplting

This method involves sculpting elements of the composition in such a way that results in a shallow bas-relief-style engraving.

It renders a greater effect of depth and three-dimensionality when compared to surface engraving.

II. Damascening

Damascening is an ancient decorative technique characterized by inlaying softer metals such as pure silver, pure gold, or copper into a harder metal. The effect is obtained by engraving a furrow into a supporting metallic structure, such as a watch or belt buckle. The furrow is incised with a textured finish, which offers a microscopic, but enduring, mechanical bond when a softer metal is hammered into its cavity.

Whether a subtle embellishment or the central focal point of an engraved composition, damascening heightens the beauty of any composition as the unique characteristics of its color, volume and texture enchant the eye.

Copper

24k Gold

Pure Silver

III. Gemstone Carving

Jesùs Serrato’s skill is not limited to engraving metal; over the years he has cultivated his talent and broadened his repertoire to include gemstone carving. Jade, carnelian, and onyx are but a few the gemstones he works with, sculpting them into wearable accessories, engraving them, and embellishing them with inlayed precious metals to fulfill the requests of our patrons.

The captivating works that result seem to transcend time as they convey all the ancient charm that one might expect of an artifact conserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, or at the Bargello Museum in Florence.