Pierluigi Prata

Bottega Prata

Blacksmith

©Pierluigi Prata

Characterful creations

Pierluigi represents the third generation
He learned his skills from his grandfather
He finds iron soft and malleable to work

Pierluigi Prata's first living memory of metal work is of his grandfather working and shaping iron. He always has him at the back of his mind. He was just a child when he first began helping 'nonno' Antonio in his workshop. He still remembers his grandfather’s calloused hands. Pierluigi likes recalling the fact that nonno Antonio “liked being a blacksmith because he felt it was a male craft, strong”, when working and shaping a raw material, he found it empowering. His grandfather passed on to Pierluigi the love for the craft and the ability to see the softness of iron, a material known for its strength and hardness. It was the way his grandfather used to mould the iron that made it seem soft.

Interview

©Pierluigi Prata

How does working iron make you feel?: It makes me feel the same as it did my grandfather. Moulding it, dominating this cold and hard metal, so laborious to handle if not done when hot makes me feel great. I remember my grandfather shaping a little leaf with such a lightness.
What does detail mean to you?: Everything is in detail. The chiselling and the drawing of the leaf, for example, is fundamental for that leaf to be beautiful and unique. The leaves made by my grandfather lacked only scent.
What people don’t understand of your work?: The time that good work requires. Being everything in the detail, this means that I have to spend a lot of time working at a particular object. A lot of tests and paper models are needed. Time brings the best results.
What kind of objects do you create?: Today, I mainly create small ones. However, over the years, our workshop has made hundreds from lamp posts for the Republic of San Marino to fixtures for churches, including San Petronio here in Bologna.

Pierluigi Prata is a master artisan: he began his career in 1990 and he started teaching in 2013