Bottega d’Arte by Armando Mortet

Armando Mortet has been listed in the Artisan Enterprises Registry since 1993. He works in the tradition of artistic craft workshops that hark back to the Renaissance, a historical period that still brings worldwide acclaim to Italy. Mortet uses ancient techniques such as lost-wax casting, chasing, and carving, with a commitment to preserving and passing on a heritage of knowledge that risks being forgotten. Born in 1955, Armando Mortet is the fourth generation of a family originally from France that moved to Rome from Florence in 1890, where the family’s artisan tradition of chasing and carving began. He initially trained in his father’s workshop in Rome and later attended the Institute of Ornamental Arts of Rome, a school specializing in applied arts. Since 1993, he has been working in Oriolo Romano, where his father Virgilio relocated the family home and studio in 1978. The Mortet family tradition then crossed borders again, reaching South America at the invitation of the Latin American Institute. Since 1996, the workshop has held numerous chasing seminars in Mexico, Peru, and Ecuador, culminating in 2004 with the establishment of the first permanent South American School of Chasing and Silversmithing in Potosí, Bolivia. Since 1998, the Oriolo studio has conducted educational seminars in Asia—including Bangladesh, Singapore, China, and Japan—at the invitation of respective Italian embassies. In December 2004, at the invitation of the Italian Embassy in Spain, the Italian Cultural Institute in Madrid organized an educational and cultural exhibition titled “Rome and Its Silver Waters,” featuring reproductions of Rome’s fountains in silver and bronze. This exhibition was intended for display in other European countries. In November 2006, the Permanent Association of Nobel Peace Laureates commissioned the Oriolo workshop to create the Man of Peace Award for the 7th edition. In the same year, the Rome studio received the “Historic Workshop” recognition from the Municipality for fifty years of activity. Oriolo’s workshop was awarded the title of “Artisanal Workshop of Excellence” by Regione Lazio in 2011, the OmA Artisan recognition in 2016, and in 2018, it received the official certification of origin and quality for artistic and traditional craftsmanship from Regione Lazio.