In the 1700s, there were about 300 artisans making gold leaf in the city. Now there is just Marino Menegazzo, who is also one of very few remaining in Europe. Marino Menegazzo held an ingot of gold.
Andrew and Kelsey McClellan have revived the delicate, nearly-lost art of gold-leaf sign painting. One of Chicago’s last gold-leaf sign painters, Robert Frese, shared gilders’ guarded secrets with ...