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©Francesca Bencivenni
©Francesca Bencivenni
©Giordano Bruzzi

Francesca Bencivenni

Francesca Bencivenni Lacemaker
©Giordano Bruzzi

Precious lace

  • • Francesca revives ancient pieces
  • • She keeps the needle lace technique alive
  • • She learned her craft from her mother and grandmother

Deeply rooted in her land’s traditions, Francesca Bencivenni learned embroidery and lacemaking from her mother and her skilled grandmother in San Giovanni in Persiceto, close to Bologna. She began to develop a passion for these ancient crafts when she was just three years old. Later, she decided to attend courses in bobbin lacemaking, cutwork and then thanks to the renowned Aemilia Ars school, she came to specialise in the ancient needle lace technique. Today, she keeps alive the precious technique of “punto in aere” (the air stitch) as it was called during the Renaissance, or Aemilia Ars stitch, creating her own decorative pieces, reproducing old historic patterns and teaching in schools and privately all over Italy.

Read the full interview

Works

  • ©Francesca Bencivenni
  • ©Francesca Bencivenni
  • ©Francesca Bencivenni
  • ©Francesca Bencivenni
  • ©Francesca Bencivenni
Photo: ©Francesca Bencivenni
Collar designed by G. Fiorini

This cotton lace collar was made from a design by G. Fiorini inspired by the collar featured in the painting of infant Anna by Frans Pourbus the Younger displayed at the Estense gallery in Modena.

Diameter 38 cm

Photo: ©Francesca Bencivenni
The monster of Ravenna

The design for this lace tablepiece is taken from the drawing by Cesare Vecellio, Crown of Noble and Virtuous Women. The piece was made for the Civic Museums of Modena, exhibited on the occasion of the 2017 Philosophy Festival.

Height 14 cm
Width 21 cm

Photo: ©Francesca Bencivenni
The walk of the peacocks

This lace piece is a reproduction of a detail from a tablecloth of the Vanderbilt family of New York. The Art Nouveau style lace cloth was exhibited in the art exhibition Liberty, a Style for Modern Italy.

Height 100 cm
Width 21 cm

Photo: ©Francesca Bencivenni
Tassel

This cotton lace tassel is a reproduction of the tassel presented in the embroidery catalogue of Aemilia Ars 1928.

Height 13 cm
Width 5 cm

Photo: ©Francesca Bencivenni
The Four Seasons

This cotton lace tablepiece is a reproduction of the piece exhibited during the 1906 International Simplon Exposition, during which it was unfortunately burnt. The drawing by Cesare Vecellio was taken from: Crown of noble and virtuous women. This reproduction was exhibited for the six-month duration of Expo Milano 2015.

Height 13 cm
Width 23 cm

Enjoy an experience with Francesca Bencivenni

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