Casa Moretti-Caselli

(14th century)


This house originally belonged to the Baglioni family, possibly to Guido Baglioni, and it later became part of the convent of Santa Maria dei Servi.  It survived the demolition of the rest of the convent in ca. 1540. 

The Sapienza Bartolina moved here in 1571.  This college had been established in 1561 under the terms of the will of Marcantonio Bartolini as a residence for twelve poor male students during their period of study at the University of Perugia.  Two of these were to be from Genoa and two from Lucca, in gratitude for the fact that these cities had sheltered Marcantonio Bartolini during his long period of exile from Perugia after the Salt War (1540).  Like the other colleges, Sapienza Bartolina was suppressed in 1797.  It re-opened in 1802 but closed again in 1811 when its activities transferred to the university.


[Photo courtesy of
Studio Moretti-Caselli] 
The house was then used as a police station until 1894, when Francesco Moretti (1833-1917), an outstanding  expert  in the technology of stained glass production and restoration, bought it.  He restored one of the rooms of the Baglioni palace and adapted other rooms to form his studio.




The skills of Francesco Moretti have been passed down through another four generations of his family via:

  • his nephew Ludovico Caselli (1859-1922);

  • Ludovico's daughters Rosa (1896-1989) and Cecilia (1905-96); and

  • their niece Anna Matilde Falsinettini Forenza and her daughters, Elisabetta and Maddalena.

The last three still work in the studio.

Work in the Studio

Full details of the things to be seen in the studio (which is a combination of a working studio, a museum, an archive, an educational establishment and gallery of the art of stained glass design and manufacture) can be found on the website of Studio Moretti Caselli, along with the means of contact to arrange a visit.  Among the works of art to be seen are:

Portrait of the Queen Margaret of Savoy (1881)

[Photo courtesy of
Studio Moretti-Caselli] 
This fine full-length portrait of the wife of King Umberto I is by Francesco Moretti.






Cartoon of Leonardo's Last Supper (1925-30)


Detail of the cartoon
[Photo courtesy of
Studio Moretti-Caselli] 
Rosa and Cecilia Caselli produced an extraordinary full-sized copy of the fresco of the Last Supper (1494-8) by Leonardo da Vinci for the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California.  She used Leonardo's sketches for the original fresco, which survives in Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan.



Work by Francesco Moretti

Restoration and re-assembly of the stained glass of the apse  (1861-1879), San Domenico

restoration of the window depicting the Preaching of St Bernardino of Siena (1863), Cappella di San Bernardino, Duomo

Nativity (1874), Cappella del Sant' Anello, Duomo

Restoration of the stained glass of the apse of the Duomo, Orvieto and nine new windows (1896-1905)

Work by Ludovico Caselli

Martyrdom of St. Laurence (1919), Duomo (counter-facade)

Work by Rosa and Cecilia Caselli

Restoration of the two apse windows of  the upper church of San Francesco, Assisi and remaking the three apsidal windows of the lower church (1918 –28).

Restoration of many windows in Santa Chiara, Assisi (1925 - 31).

Return to Detour II of Walk VII.