Talent

"In my case, talent in terms of execution, more than creativity, is crucial, even if taste plays an important role. Talent is something you are born with, but you have to hone it with practice. When I cut out the third layer of the rosette, for example, the outline is not traced on the parchment and I have to do it all by eye."

Elena Dal Cortivo trained as a luthier in Milan, and began work in Vicenza, occasionally also making decorative rosettes, intricately designed and made from goat parchment, for harpsichords and baroque guitars. In 1991, she opened a workshop in Milan where she continued to make and restore musical instruments and to receive requests for rosettes. Gradually, creating rosettes became her main occupation and today Elena Dal Cortivo is one of the most highly regarded practitioners of this rarest of crafts.

Elena Dal Cortivo
Parchment rosette maker
www.parchmentroses.com