About Me — Antonello Mirone
Historian and Stonemason, actively seeking beauty as an intellectual and a craftsman.
Hi everyone, welcome here, and thank you for reading my articles!
As you might have guessed from my profile I’m a Stonemason, Artist, and a Historian. Quite an interesting blend, you might say! But it has not always been the case, and the events that brought me here are fascinating.
Here is my knowledge on Medium and my story below, scroll for more!
My Childhood
I was born on the 21st of September 1993, in Naples (Italy). A well-known Italian city for its history since Ancient Greece times. If you are not a fan of history, you might know it as the birthplace of Pizza and for its football team, linked with the legendary figure of Maradona.
I grew up in a family of artisans, specializing in goldsmithing and tortoiseshell crafting. My young days were spent between artisanal workshops and school, mainly designing jewels and creating unique items on commission for clients.
My education started with the Classical Gymnasium and Lyceum “Jacopo Sannazaro”. It is a high school major in humanities: possibly the only high school in the world where pupils study both Latin and Ancient Greek and it’s internationally renowned for its advanced curricula in philosophy, literature, and history.
It had a profound impact on my development and future career.
My Career — Beginning in Optics
After my humanities Diploma, I decided to improve my English and what better place if not the United Kingdom?
In August 2012 I moved to the UK, and in the summer of the same year, I found a job as an assistant in the optical sector (optician). After a few months, the man who hired me decided to sponsor me and enroll me in the Optician college.
So I worked and studied at the same time, under the guidance of my boss who later on will become one of my best friends, Rupesh Shah.
I was working in London, near the parliament, but my studies were undertaken at the ABDO College, in Godmersham Park, Kent. Never heard of it? Well me neither, but you will be surprised to know that used to be the summer residence of Jane Austen!
After qualifying, I decided to move to the lovely city close to my college.
I’m talking about Canterbury! And here’s where my career and life took an unusual turn!
An unusual turn
I moved to Canterbury (Kent) at the beginning of 2021 just after the pandemic and I became friends with a school Art Teacher, named Kelly Penfold.
Little I knew this encounter would change my life. She saw what I used to design by hand when I used to make jewellery, and suggested to start drawing, if not professionally, at least as a hobby.
Being raised up as a classical man, I’m always interested in traditional art, starting from Giotto all the way to the Baroque period. So as I started drawing, I naturally went into the traditional style of drawing.
Here’s where I met a figure who would direct me towards the right direction of the art I wanted, his name is Robbert Ruigrok.
Robbert was capable of bringing forward ideas I long had at the back of my mind. Good art requires solid training, basics come first, and good taste is taught and not coming at random.
He is an amazing teacher, like him really few come around and I strongly suggest contacting him. He teaches in London and you can find him through Superprof on this link.
Within a few months of hard training, I was able to reproduce some of my favourite drawings in the History of Art, here’s an example below I made in 2022! You can find more on my online gallery on Saatchi Art.
Some of my work has been featured during the Lambeth conference in 2022, for the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby!
Later on, I was eager to proceed into painting, although I found myself stuck. Because my preference is to get my hands dirty and do more manual work and it showed in the way I was painting.
Again I was at the right place at the right time since Canterbury is well known for its Stonemasonry history and UNESCO world heritage status.
I said to myself “Cutting stone? Sounds fun let’s try!”, so I enrolled on the Canterbury college stone carving course, and soon realized with the head of the course Paul Wright, that this would be a concrete career I could pursue!
A year later, now I’m officially a Stonemason under the guidance of Mark Brooks.
What is a stonemason? Well, it’s a skilled artisan well versed in cutting stone for various purposes ranging from Architecture to Memorials.
It is a figure often called to restore ancient buildings, sculptures or create new ones. It’s hard work and manual labour but the foundation of civilization and architecture in Western and Eastern Europe.
I hope you enjoyed this read, and my art history lessons come mainly from my hands-on practice which is the result of breathing and touching art every day.
Stay tuned for more and see you next!
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