Gian Domenico Facchina Award 2025
In memory of the great Friulian mosaicist Gian Domenico Facchina, who became famous in Paris in the second half of the 19th century thanks to his mosaics in the Opéra Garnier, the Municipality of Sequals has decided to honour two students from the Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli.
This is the Gian Domenico Facchina Award, which the Municipality of Sequals, in collaboration with the Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli, has been awarding for several years to two students who have distinguished themselves in the final exam of the first course. For the 2024/2025 academic year, the award went to Giulia Rossi and Mery Zamuner, both for their mosaic translation, using natural materials in Roman style, of a cockerel depicted in a Pompeian fresco, which was missing its legs, leaving them to the students’ free interpretation. The two essays show a careful translation of the colours and expressiveness of the animal, but also a proportionate and realistic integration of the missing part.
In addition to the cash prize, the winners will have the satisfaction of seeing their mosaics displayed for a whole year in the lobby of Sequals Town Hall. This is a tangible way of reminding citizens how central mosaic work was to the economy of the town and of western Friuli in general. In fact, there were many family workshops active in mosaic and terrazzo work even before the 19th century and, as Mayor Enrico Odorico, who was present at the award ceremony, recalled, they were known throughout Europe and beyond. One of these families, whose male members left as seasonal emigrants to carry out terrazzo flooring and mosaic decoration work in new palaces and churches in the large, expanding capitals, was that of Gian Domenico Facchina (1826 – 1903) also came from one of these families, whose male members left as seasonal emigrants to carry out terrazzo paving and mosaic decoration work in new buildings and churches in the major capitals that were undergoing expansion. After a stay in Venice, he found fortune in France thanks to his collaboration with the architect Charles Garnier, creator of the monumental theatre commissioned by Napoleon III: the Opéra. The vast mosaic decoration was carried out and coordinated by Facchina, who developed a technique, that of reverse on paper, of which the Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli is the official heir and whose knowledge it passes on, refining the execution solutions. The result was exceptional, as confirmed by the press of the time and by the fortune that Facchina subsequently enjoyed.In order not to forget this great mosaic artist and others like him, who through hard work and perseverance brought prestige to Friuli and Italy throughout the world, the Municipality of Sequals has established this Award, which represents a sign of continuity, shared history and craftsmanship that links the Friuli region and its communities to the Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli. It connects the past to the present and projects itself into the future in a network of people and skills, students and teachers united in the art of mosaic.
In the Aula Magna, in front of all the students of the Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli, the two young students, Rossi and Zamuner, received the award from Mayor Odorico and the President of the School, Stefano Lovison. The excited students did not want to miss the opportunity to express their gratitude: first and foremost to the Municipality of Sequals, which strongly believes in this award, and then to the School, which welcomes them every day and offers them all the tools they need to establish themselves in the world of work, art and craftsmanship, in particular to the teachers of the first course, Jonas Giubbini and Francesco Anchora.
President Lovison, Mayor Odorico, and the two award-winning students Giulia Rossi and Mery Zamuner
Dicember 19, 2025
