Forcola, a work of artisan and artist

Forcole workshop Paolo Brandolisio Venice Italy

Forcole in the workshop of Paolo Brandolisio

Forcola (pitchfork) is the fulcrum of the oar of a boat: it is the chief part which is subjected to all restrictions of maneuvering and propulsion.

Gondolas and their forcole (in the plural) are such a particular form that they exclusively made in Venice.

Squeri construct gondolas and Remeri fabricate oars and sculpt forcole.

Each its specialty, which is not the case of the squeri of the Lagoon who construct different pleasure or working boats and then deliver them equipped with their oars and with their forcole.

Remeri are artisans who work for the gondoliers and the regatta enthusiasts.

Paolo Brandolisio

Paolo is one of the last remeri of Venice, he succeeded one of most grand master remeri, the maestro Giuseppe Carli, who passed all his art on to him.

Paolo Brandolisio works in most cases for the gondoliers of Venice and sculpts the famous forcole for them. Every forcola is tailor-made according to the size of the gondolier.

If you want to bring back at you a hand sculpted forcole, Paolo Brandolisio carves scaled down models. A very nice model of about one-third of real size costs 150 Euro.

The workshop of Paolo Brandolisio:
4725, Calle Corte Rota
30122 Venezia
Phone and Fax : +39 041 522 41 55

Forcole di Saverio Pastor

This is the storefront of another remer of Venice, located in the sestiere of Dorsduro.

Fondamenta Soranzo detta de la Fornasa, 341 - Dorsoduro
Internet site: www.forcole.com

Phone : +39 041 522 56 99