Alessandro Mazzucotelli (1865 – 1938)

He was born in Lodi in 1865. As the family did not have the means to finance his studies, Mazzucotelli moved to Milan to work as a blacksmith apprentice in the Defendente Oriani workshop.

He immediately dedicated himself to the ornamental aspect of iron - he called himself an "ornamental blacksmith" - and his qualities made him valuable contacts with important artists and architects of his time.

During trips to Rome and Florence, Mazzucotelli knew some prominent personalities including Alfredo Campanini, Ulisse Stacchini, Ernesto Pirovano and Giuseppe Sommaruga realizing for them wrought iron

The very personal imprint of Mazzucotelli's creations often resulted in added value for the architecture itself - exemplary is the case of the balconies of Casa Ferrario in Milan.

Between 1903 and 1904 he traveled to Europe in order to deepen his knowledge of artists such as Henry Van de Velde and William Morris.

the experience abroad had a profound influence on the style of Mazzucotelli, who on the way back detached himself from floral fantasies in favor of increasingly abstract motifs.

From 1909 Mazzucotelli opened a new company headquarters in the Bicocca area of Milan, and from here took charge of numerous realizations for the residential projects then under construction in the city.

In 1906 Mazzucotelli had already worked on the wrought iron for Casa Campanini (arch. A. Campanini, via Vincenzo Bellini, Milan).

In the following years he contributed to the projects for Faccanoni-Romeo villa, Tensi house, Berri Mergalli palace. Commissions also arrived in Buenos Aires, Mexico City and Bangkok

After the war, with the decline of the Liberty style, collaborations with architects failed, but Mazzucotelli did not suffer too much from the change.

His celebrity is exemplified by the commission for some of the decorations of the Vittoriale of Gardone Rivera by Gabriele D’Annunzio (1925).

From a stylistic point of view, the historicist and classical themes of the second half of the Ten reflect the changed cultural climate in Italy and the ascending nationalist tendencies of the country

In the 1920s, the shop veered back towards a graphic style with Art Deco reminiscences.

Mazzucotelli also remained active outside the workshop with the foundation of the University of Decorative Arts (Villa Reale, Monza, 1922).

He also participated in numerous national and international exhibitions including Exposition Universelle et Internationale in Brussels (1910);

the Exposition Internationale Des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (Paris, 1925) and the II and III Biennale di Monza (1925 and 1927). He died in Milan in 1938.