Les Maitres et Elèves par ordre alphabétique
Michel LORENZI
Statuary moulder
Craft National Living Treasures 1994
Founded in 1871 by Michel LORENZI, Lorenzi firm is now run by his great grandson, who has the same first name, and who perpetuates the moulding tradition and makes the techniques evolve at the same time. At the beginning, the moulders were essentially made of plaster, whereas nowadays the resin is the most used material. Supplier of, among others, art schools, town halls, decorators, architects and of course private individuals, the firm owns a collection of moulds extended over the years, which can be considered the second most important collection of France (in number of objects), just behind the Reunion des Musées Nationaux.
This collections is made up of reproductions from Egypt to the Far East, and from Greece to Renaissance, etc... and coming back to nowadays. It is made up of statues, busts, heads, High and low relieves, decorative elements such as columns, capitals, vases, consoles, shells which are made on commission, either in plaster, in resin or in reconstituted stone. Some of these models are also made for renting to create cinema settings or various events.
The firm doesn’t make moulds only. For now, the use of composite resins enables us to create perfect copies, which ensures the moulding process to become the guarantee of preservation of works and monuments submitted to bad weather, pollution and other damages due to the course of time.
Actually, who knows that the statues in front of the Assemblée Nationale are made of resin? Who knows that every golden torchère in the glass gallery in the Château de Versailles are all made of resin, except one : the original? Who could tell the original lantern from the 17th century from the others when looking up at the ceilings of the Piaggo hostel in Rome? Must it be golden wood, white marble, stone or ceramic, thanks to his intervention, Michel Lorenzi gives back to places or works their original characters or style, far quicker an cheaper than if it was done anywhere else.
