"How to look at the works of art "

Trento’s coat of arms, the Eagle, can be seen in via Belenzani (no 52-56) on the attic of the “Municipio Vecchio”, that is the palazzo that was the seat of the former City Council. This sculpture, a noteworthy bronze casting, is placed in the centre of four statues – made by sculptor Jacob Eberle (Maštov 1718/20- post 1770) – and was made around year 1838 by Domenico Furlani (1814-1883), who was a Trentine craftsman renowned for metalworking. He was born in the quarter of San Bartolomeo in Trento, son to Andrei Giobatta and Caterina Andrei. Brass worker and silversmith, he was an apprentice for several years in Joseph Hueber’s workshop (documents referred to this date from 1794 to 1835) and learned the technique of chiselling from Carlo Toneatti (1814 Rovereto-Trento 1887); the latters were both masters in their field. In 1832 he opened a workshop in Piazza S. Maria Maggiore. Among his big-sized works, the following are to be remembered: the fountain with four swans in the town hall square of Coredo, carried out in 1857 on commission of the municipality; the inscription on the base of the statue of the Redeemer by sculptor Andrea Malfatti (1832-1917), which is placed on the tympanum of the chapel of the cemetery of Trento. He supplied a lot of churches in Trento with holy vessels, especially the church of S. Maria Maggiore; as a matter of fact he is repeatedly mentioned (almost every year) in the books of accounts of this parish between 1834 and 1883.