Our Inspiration: The Italian Renaissance

For centuries, Italian furniture has been known all over the world for its high quality, ornate yet informal and fascinating elegance. The designs of Italian Furniture, like Ragazzi, were born from a passionate interest in the fine arts, unique architecture and sculpture of the Italian Renaissance.

The enormous popularity of Italian furniture is due to the high quality craftsmanship that produces strong and well-built pieces. As well, the attention furniture designers place on even the tiniest details in their sketches makes each piece a work of art. Each piece brings an elaborate history of design from ancient times into today’s modern furniture world.

During the 14th century, Italy turned for inspiration from Ancient Greece and Rome. Initially, this started with architecture, but soon evolved to furniture design. The design was grand, intended to evoke the look of pillars and iconic columns of ancient temples. In the 15th century, Italian furniture design became more simple, refined and functional.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Italy separated itself into distinct states, each with their own unique styles, which influenced furniture design even further. In Venice, furniture makers focused their designs on mirrors, cabinets and armoires, which you see today in Ragazzi Fine Furniture’s collections. Woods such as walnut were fashioned with simple legs, elaborate corners and detailed edges. The furniture pieces were then painted with exquisite finishes and adorned with silver and gold handles.

Today, after years of design innovations, Italian furniture has seen modern improvements that place it at the head of the furniture industry as seen in Ragazzi’s Envy and Eclipse collections. The traditional material of the past, solid hardwoods, is accompanied by newer materials, allowing more creativity in the design process.