Giulio Bonaventura Masnada 1852-1926

Born into a family of carpenters[1]Giulio Masnada became a skilled wood carver with which he created inlay paintings.
A characteristic of his inlays was the contemporary use of various types of wood by combining them, which he obtained lively effects of color and composition.The pictorial effect was made even more effective by the fact that his wooden paintings, composed of a large number of small pieces, were enriched with pyrographic techniques, with the addition of colors and sometimes with the insertion of elements in ivory, mother-of-pearl, copper.Often, next to his signature, he used to indicate the number of pieces (sometimes hundreds) with which he had created the inlay.
After 1903 he began to sign his works with the initials F.T. from the nickname Fratopolino that his fellow citizens had given him for his tiny build[2].
Masnada had his own art workshop in Bergamo Alta[3], due to his ability, he was always much sought after by the Bergamo clientele even if he never cultivated particular ambitions of economic success, instead distinguishing himself for an original disheveled lifestyle.