We are a historic shop
one of those that are hardly to be found anymore,
of those that still carry out restoration work and produce new custom-made furniture.
Our history
Our story begins around the mid-twenties of the last century (1926) when the forefather of my branch of the family ADRIANO PETROSEMOLO (1887-1977), after more than fifteen years as an apprentice with the best master craftsmen of the time, opened the own workshop of artistic restoration and cabinet-making in Via Bocca di Leone 44 / a. Here Adriano continues his activity together with his son ENRICO PETROSEMOLO (1913-1991), who at thirteen starts as a "shop boy" to learn the methods of restoration and conservation of wooden artistic assets, as well as the techniques and styles of own cabinet making. Enrico opened his workshop in the second half of the thirties first in Via dei Coronari, but the beginning of the Second World War forced him to close and return to his father's shop; how the war ends and, at the beginning of the fifties, the right opportunity presents itself, opens again its activity in Via Bocca di Leone 43 / a. Here, at the beginning of the sixties, he began his apprenticeship ROBERTO PETROSEMOLO (1950-), who as a shop boy went to help his father after school and during the summer. After completing his studies as a technical-mechanical draftsman (at the Carlo Cattaneo Institute in Rome), Roberto, at the age of seventeen, began his professional career which, thanks to his passion and curiosity, combined with undisputed talent, brought him to broaden their skills and experience by learning, even from other master craftsmen of the family and others, rules and techniques that go beyond the mere field of restoration and cabinet-making, such as carving, pad polishing and lacquering , the gilding and the basic principles of carpentry. Roberto, in his entire journey, has experimented with techniques, materials, new possibilities of realization, investing time, money, effort and sacrifices; wrong, trying, developing real formulas that do not only speak of aesthetics, but of functionality and practicality of their existence. This allowed him to make his work gain support and approval in England, France, Saudi Arabia and Argentina, allowing him over the years to become a reference point for the major antique dealers and gallery owners of the historic center of Rome. In 1986 Roberto opened his own workshop in Via di Gesù and Maria 23/24, taking over the workshop he started in 1936 from his uncle carver Teodoro Petrosemolo (1906-1986). Here Roberto continues the history of this branch of the family with me, his son, MATTEO PETROSEMOLO (1980-), who since 2000 has continued the family tradition. I too, like my predecessors, began my career as an apprentice / shop boy, trying to assimilate the skills and knowledge as well as the techniques and methodologies handed down from father to son. To date I have the honor of being the owner of the "family workshop", officially counting myself as the fourth generation in direct line that carries out this restoration and cabinet-making activity, whose history is now close to reaching one hundred years of life.
And here I am, let me introduce myself, my name is Matteo Petrosemolo and I too, like my predecessors, start my career as an apprentice / shop boy, trying to assimilate the skills, knowledge, skills and techniques, as well as the processes and the methodologies handed down from father to son, which my father tries to transmit to me daily even now that, having reached retirement age in 2017, he has passed the baton to the ownership of the family business. As a result, they are the fourth generation in direct line that carries out this restoration and cabinet-making activity, and I carry on with my passion, involvement, pride and determination the traditional trade of my family, whose history is now close to reaching one hundred years of life.
Now my ambitious mission , as the last representative of this dynasty, is to bring together artistic and traditional craftsmanship with innovative tools and modern and avant-garde production methods, preserving and safeguarding the concept of manual / traditional craftsmanship , but trying to lead the Made in Italy craftsmanship in phase 4.0of its millenary history, in an evolution of the trade of cabinetmaker / craftsman that allows to pass from the Renaissance workshop to the laboratory of the third millennium. I remember one thing my grandfather always told me: "When you buy from a craftsman, you are buying hundreds of hours of failures and experiments, months of frustration and moments of pure joy; you are not buying an object, you are buying a passion, a moment of life of a person. "