Paolo Penko receives the Bel San Giovanni Prize

Master Goldsmith Paolo Penko received the 2006 Bel San Giovanni Prize in the Salone dei Cinquecento

Every year on 29 January, the Society of St John the Baptist celebrates the anniversary of its foundation by awarding the “Bel San Giovanni” Prize to:
personalities or institutions who, for their work in the most diverse fields of thought and action, have achieved notoriety and unanimous appreciation for their contribution to the spiritual and material elevation of the community in which they operate.

am truly honoured and excited by this important recognition. I thank and greet Councillor Giani and all the civil and religious authorities present here.

My sincere thanks for the privilege of awarding me this prize go to the President of San Giovanni Battista, Mr Ginolo Ginori Conti, and to the entire Deputation of this centuries-old but still vital Florentine civic institution, heir to the Art of Calimala. I must confess that, as a Florentine, I am even more excited to receive this award in front of all you members and friends of San Giovanni, but also in the context of this historic hall, the scene of so much of our city’s history. A place where, as in a neutral space, almost without boundary lines, art and craftsmanship come together thanks to the skill and genius of great craftsmen-artists.

I am a craftsman and this award recognises the craftsmanship that is still an important transmitter of knowledge, values, history and traditions. An artistic craftsmanship that is still alive, but which must have the awareness and, above all, the ability to continuously renew knowledge in order to adapt to daily reality.

As a goldsmith, I have always considered myself fortunate, almost privileged, to be able to carry out an activity, a profession, a craft that manages to excite me, enthuse me and give me satisfaction, day after day, year after year and always in a new and different way.

Although I must admit that, nowadays, it takes a certain spirit of adventure and perhaps a bit of courage to live with the creativity of one’s work and a taste for things done well. A courage and a passion that I share daily with my wife Beatrice, with a perfect integration of roles, carrying out together an important project of internationalisation of our brand that will see the opening in the coming months of two new sales points in America in San Francisco and Chicago, after New York, Dallas and Boston.

A daily modus operandi that aims to keep alive all those working techniques typical of the Florentine goldsmithing tradition. The Florentine style is, in fact, the primary source of inspiration for my works, which recall the volutes, spirals, friezes and small geometries and inlays used by the great masters of Florentine architecture.

The “Bel San Giovanni” is therefore for me not only a confirmation of the work I have done but, above all, a commitment to continue my “journey” in the world of precious craftsmanship, a journey because being a craftsman is a bit like being an explorer, an explorer of new worlds because designing, conceiving, creating, using imagination is certainly one of the greatest adventures of thought.

Last but not least, a special thank you to Maestro Auzzi for the beautiful creation of this work that was delivered to me.