Historical facts

Since the year one thousand, the Pontificia Fonderia Marinelli trades from father to son the tradition of the art of bells fusion, which is carried on today, with great passion and devotion, by Pasquale Marinelli and his grandchildren Armando and Pasquale jr, helped by a few craftsmen. Mr. Marinelli has worked for years with his brother Ettore, fine sculptor; his daughters Gioconda and Gabriella take care of the administration and advertising.
The bells crafted by this firm has reached all the world; in fact, in Agnone have been made famous bells such as: the bell for the Sanctuary of Lourdes in the centennial of the appearance of the Virgin (1958), the commemorative bell for the centennial of the Italian Unity (1961), the bell for the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council (1963), the Kennedy Bell (1964), the Holy Year bell (1975), the bells of Pope Luciani’s Smile (1978), that of the Four Popes (1979), The “African” bell (1983), to commemorate Italians in Africa, the Medjugorie bell (1988), on the occasion of the Marian Year, the “Perestrojka” bell, on the occasion of the historic meeting of Pope Wojtila with Gorbaciov (1989), the bell for Queen Elena of Savoia, the bell for the Sport Centre in Sapporo, Japan (1990), that for the Columbian Celebrations in 1992, the bell in Antillo, Sicily, for the casualties of all wars (1993), the “friendship bell” in the Museum of Peking (194). Among the latest bells produced, the one that the Pope will give the UN on the 50th year of Foundation, with the writing “Nations won’t fight each other anymore and will cease to prepare for war “(Isaiah 2,4); and, last but not least, the bell for the Jubilee.
From the same firm the bell concerts, impressive and touching, in the Sanctuary of Pompeii, Montevergine, Viscaino, Madonna dell’Arco, The Montecassino Abbey, the Saint Paul Catheral in Rome, in the Amore Misericordioso Sanctuary in Collevalenza, in S. Giovanni Rotondo, San Gabriele dell’Addolorata, the Preziosissimo Sangue Church in Florence, in Amalfi, Ravello, Scala, Maiori, S. Maria delle Grazie in Ancona.
Very touching the bell dedicated to Nicholas Green, the American child killed in Italy; his father Reginald will have built in California, where his child rests, a monument of Italian bells moved by the ocean win. The bell will bear engraved the names of Nicholas and of the seven people who have been donated his organs, with the writing “succisa virescit” (1995).
It is worth mentioning the reproduction of the “Tavola Osca” dating back to the III century b.C. , the original of which is kept in the British Museum and represents the ultimate evidence of the Osca Language.
Furthermore, for the very first time, the Braille has been engraved on the bell dedicated to the Madonna of Medjugorje, which states: “If you long for a better world start from your heart”. Other bells have been dedicated to sportsmen, politicians, showmen. Among the most original works, the bell kept by the Hon. Giulio Andreotti crafted on occasion of the celebration for the twentieth anniversary of the institution of Isernia Province. In the field of sports, we remember the “Mundial Bell” dedicated to the victory of the Italian team in 1982; the bell dedicated to the footballer Diego Armando Maradona and the one crafted on occasion of the World Championship “Italy ‘90” . In the field of show, the bells dedicated to the actress Luisa Conte, to the ballet dancer Rudolph Nureyev. Interesting the bells for the Rotary Club, Lyons Club, and the association for Women Entrepreneurs (AIDDA).

The rise of the bell

The techniques used for crafting a bell are the same as the ones used in the Middle Ages; crafting a bell is not an easy task: thickness, weight, diameter , height are important factors in delicate balance between one another.
The phases of a bell crafting are the following:

1) the building of a brick structure which corresponds to the inside of a bell, of truncated cone shape.

2) On the bell’s soul are overlapped layers of clay as to reach the desired thickness. The clay used is a special one, as it has to resist to the erosive action of the liquid metal during the casting. On the surface thus obtained are applied wax figures that decorate the “false” bell.

3) In the last stage is prepared the coat that is obtained after overlapping layers of clay. The clay is applied into thin layers and it is left to dry between an application and another.
The drying is obtained through putting coals on fire inside the brick soul, and they’re left there until the coat is finished. During this stage, the wax layer slowly melts and it is absorbed by the clay. After all this, the coat is lifted and the “false bell” is destroyed up to “free” its soul. On the coat remain engraved all the decorations in negative. The coat is then put again on the soul, keeping free the space once occupied by the false bell, that will be eventually filled up by the liquid metal.

4) The pit where the stamp is put is totally filed up with earth, so to avoid the shifting of the coat caused by the metal push. The making of the bell is then started, by spilling the bronze at 1150 C° in the space between coat and soul. To melt the metal are used furnaces built with refractory bricks; the combustible used is dry oak wood, that avoids the contamination of the metal by gases. The making of a bell lasts from 30 to 90 days; the moulding stage is the most delicate.

5) After cooling, the rough bell is deprived of the coat and the soul, cleaned up and brushed. The sound is checked with special instruments. The bells’ handles and their supports are worked using the same procedures. The moment of the casting is almost a religious one.

The museum

Historic museum of the bell “Giovanni Paolo II”
The Marinelli museum, born in 1997, and dedicated by Pasquale Marinelli to his brother Ettore, is one of the few museums in the world that collects bells from the year one thousand up to present. It is annexed to the homonymous “Fonderia Marinelli” where the art of making bells is still practiced. The museums keeps all the most important bells crafted by “Fonderia Marinelli” and mentioned earlier in this text.