Romano Marengo-Rinaldi

Marengo-Rinaldi was born in 1866, and began his career with Enrico Marchetti, to whom he was related. Both men worked in the large Turin shop as pupil and assistant of Benedetto Gioffredo, who adopted his father-in-law’s surname of ‘Rinaldi’ when managing the joint business in Turin, known as ‘Gioffredo-Rinaldi’ and later simply ‘Rinaldi’. After Benedetto’s death in 1888, Marengo-Rinaldi took over as manager for Benedetto’s widow until 1900, and thereafter on his own account until his own death in 1926. Within the shop, numerous distinguished Piedmontese makers were employed, including Annibale Fagnola, Edoard Marchetti, Carlo Giuseppe Oddone and Evasio Emiliano Guerra, and the output was altogether very varied. The obvious origin of most of the workshop style was Pressenda and Rocca, the two most distinguished makers of the Turin school, but generally the workmanship does not reach such heights.