Marcel Continues the Legacy

Following Claude Valsuani’s death in 1923, his son Marcel assumed responsibility for the foundry at 74 Rue des Plantes, continuing the family tradition of bronze casting excellence.

Documentary Evidence

Historical photographs from the foundry archives show Marcel at work, bearing captions identifying “Marcel Vélanari au travail” (Marcel at work), with “Vélanari” representing either a variant spelling or transcription error of the Valsuani name. These images document the generational continuity of the enterprise.

The Origin of “Marcello”?

The phonetic similarity between “Marcel” (French) and “Marcello” (Italian) provides the most compelling explanation for the myth’s origins:

1. Later art historians encountered the name “Marcel” in foundry records and photographs
2. Assuming an Italian founding family should bear Italian names, they unconsciously Italianized “Marcel” to “Marcello”
3. This constructed “Marcello” was then promoted to an earlier generation as a supposed patriarch or founder
4. The error entered secondary literature and replicated through citation without verification

This hypothesis elegantly explains both the complete absence of “Marcello” in primary documents and the presence of a similar-sounding name in the actual historical record.

Foundry Continuation

Under Marcel’s stewardship, the Valsuani foundry continued operating throughout the twentieth century, maintaining its reputation for lost-wax casting excellence. The establishment finally closed in 2016, ending over a century of bronze casting at the legendary address. Throughout this entire period, the myth of “Marcello” persisted in secondary sources even as the documentary record consistently told a different story.