CHISEL. - It is properly a steel tool used to draw, engrave, raise, flatten or clean the metal on which one is working; there are therefore various chisels which take particular names and serve each of the different operations. In common usage the term has come to mean the work of sculpture, naturally very delicate, executed with that tool.

It is a very ancient technique and always associated with other particular methods of goldsmithing, such as repoussé, agemina, niello, etc. Through chiseling, in fact, effects of an almost laminar relief are obtained which can confer on works executed with this technique a very notable airiness through the diversity of planes; but in general the volumes are somewhat reinforced by combining with it the technique of repoussé. Chiseled works are frequently found in sacred goldsmithing from the Middle Ages up to the modern age.

Bibliography

BIBL.: R. B. Witte, Das katholische Gotteshaus, Mainz 1939, pp. 192, 257, 279, 422.

CESELLO - Silver saucer dish in repoussé and chisel work, with the depiction of the month of January. Florentine art of the 16th century - Florence, Cabinet of Silverware.(phot. Alinari)

@incollection{ec3_cesello, author = {Matthiae, Guglielmo}, title = {Cesello}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {III}, pages = {1358--1359}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/cesello} }

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