Romolo Gentili believes that producing olive oil is an art. From this certainty came his new bet, “artOlio,” where two kinds of art meet in the same object: one transforms a fruit into a delicious liquid, the other transforms formless matter into an artistic object. The idea is to create an exclusive artistic line for Gentili oil, with a refined and elegant all-ceramic bottle with a green heart, extra virgin olive oil of superior quality. A project inspired by two specific needs: to enhance the art of national artisans through works capable of conveying the philosophy that animates the work of the Gentili oil mill, based on the combination of tradition and innovation. To flesh out this ambitious project, he selected 2 different artists who created an original line, both in form and color, to best synthesize his work and bring these two extraordinary art forms together. The first result of this ambitious project was the creation of a special ceramic bottle produced by a professional artisan, Augusto Girolamini, a true excellence in the international panorama of turners. Augusto modeled this type of bottle on a lathe, the shape of which was designed after study and research work conducted by another artist involved. He is Marco Valenti, an eclectic artist who has been researching ceramics for half a century, and for this line he has proposed two different graphic designs designed specifically on the Gentili brand. A unique opportunity for lovers of quality and beauty who will have the opportunity to receive a superior gourmet product in a container that, once its usefulness is over, becomes a work of art and design. This first artistic line will be released as a limited edition, with a small number of bottles in the two graphic versions we describe below:

• Made of white clay and shaped on a potter’s wheel by the skilled hands of Augusto, a professional potter with more than 30 years of experience behind him, this particular bottle has a shape that is vaguely reminiscent of ancient Etruscan-Roman amphorae, squat and elongated, but with a short, cylindrical neck. The original and elegant bottle shape was designed by Marco Vallesi and is a synthesis of two different combinations. In fact, the artist speaks of a union, that is, a harmonious meeting between the shape of the olive and the typical Etruscan-Roman amphora. This was the inspiration behind the original and traditional form at the same time. Marco, in his study of the shape, started from the classical tradition and then arrived at an innovative and original choice with a ceramic bottle with an elegant and out-of-the-ordinary shape that houses 750 ml of superior quality extra virgin olive oil, produced and packaged in the Gentili Oil Mill. Peculiar both in stroke and chromaticism, the artist’s graphic choice was to reproduce in the drawing a typical vertical field from which sprout in silhouette theme, the characteristic leaves of olive trees and olives themselves that immediately refer to the contained product. On the choice of colors used, we have white, which lends elegance to the bottle, while the use of green-gold is specifically designed to create a direct connection with both the history of this product and the natural color of the product contained. In fact, as early as classical times, oil was considered “green gold” both for the earnings from it and for its many curative uses. Finally, with regard to the technique of creating the graphic design, Marco came up with the original design, the vector file of which was then given to a company specializing in digital ceramics, which went on to adapt the resulting sheet to the shapes of the bottle. A long work that involved multiple professional skills, but perfectly expresses Gentili’s philosophy, tradition and modernity for artful products. Tradition can be found in the production of the bottle (old art pottery) and the oil, the result of knowledge that has been passed down through generations, while modernity is not only in the proposed form but also in the decoration that takes advantage of modern processing technology on the pottery.
• This second line of artistic bottles was also handmade and created on a potter’s wheel with white clay by master potter Augusto, who then glazed and then fired in an electric kiln at about 1,000° C. For this second line, too, the artisan kept the shape designed by Marco, which is vaguely reminiscent of ancient Etruscan-Roman amphorae with a squat, elongated shape and short cylindrical neck, with a strong reference to the typical shape of the pressing olive. Recall that each item made was created on a lathe and enameled by hand, so each bottle is unique in the form in which it is presented here. This means that there may be slight differences between the bottles made not to be considered imperfections at all, but rather unique and unrepeatable features, synonymous with the craftsmanship and uniqueness of the work. As for the study of the graphic design of this second production line of the artOlio series, Marco tried to refer instead to the Gentili brand and the original file carried to date in the various bottles of his oil. So the idea that led to the graphic line of this second bottle draws inspiration from the original file of previous Gentili labels, where olive leaves stand out, which Marco then isolated as the predominant elements of his design and elongated to then be placed horizontally on two precise points, at the base and before the neck of the bottle. The white color predominates throughout the bottle, punctuated at the two points described in a circular form by the different shades of green that oil can take on during different life stages, synthesized in the 5 olive leaves present, which seem as if tenderly embracing each other. Elegant, clean and light, this second label was then applied to each bottle, by the Deruta-based company specializing in high-tech digital ceramic decoration. Certainly more faithful to the original graphic line of the Gentili brand, actually this bottle also has elements of creativity and originality that cannot be overlooked, both in the choice of different shades of green and in the way of representation with the 5 olive leaves that seem as if they join the unique cycle of the oil’s life.

As a reminder, the enamels used are non-toxic with so much certification
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and resistant, therefore designed and suitable for food use and also dishwasher safe, although it is preferable, despite the resistance, to wash by hand, which we strongly recommend for the good maintenance of the object.