Born in Turin, Italy, in 1923, Martinazzi moved to Florence for his craftsmanship training in 1953. Though he was initially drawn to many different art forms, he was struck by goldsmithing. He later became interested in sculpture. In Florence, Martinazzi studied embossing, chasing, and enameling at the Scuola Statale d’Arte; he augmented his study at the Institute of Art in Rome. Martinazzi had his first solo exhibition in Turin in 1955, not long after moving to Florence, and since then he has continued to wield influence and garner acclaim.
Martinazzi typically works in gold and stone, creating highly sculptural pieces. Though he is known for depicting body parts, at the beginning of his career, his jewelry forms were more abstract and did not allude to the human form. As his work evolved, he began incorporating hints of the full human figure, eventually building a vocabulary of images of isolated body parts that stood for the whole. Martinazzi feels that each piece is imbued with many layers of meaning, association, and ambiguity. He is inspired by a range of ideas and disciplines, from German philosophy to laser light properties, yet retains a pantheistic mindset that “everything is one”[1].
[1] Bruno Martinazzi, interview by Susan Cummins, “Bruno Martinazzi: Vivere Essere Volere Bene,” Art Jewelry Forum, published May 16, 2014, https://artjewelryforum.org/artists/bruno-martinazzi-vivere-essere-volere-bene.