Il corniciaio

For the past few days, I've been looking at all the corniciai (frame-makers) around town to get my two dipinti (paintings) framed. Most of the corniciai that I have seen do very nice cornici (frames), but not for the style of dipinto that I have. I saw two corniciai: one in via della Pergola and one in via S. Egidio yesterday when I was walking by, so I decided to bring my two tele (canvases).

I had especially liked one of the cornici that I saw in the vetrina (window). I thought it was the corniciaio in via della Pergola, but when I walked in to talk to him about the cornice that interested me, it wasn't there. He was a very nice man, but he kept telling me that he'd have to paste the tela onto a piece of wood and then frame it. It wasn't that I wanted to keep the other signature of the artist, but I felt like it was a permanent choice that I wasn't prepared to make. I was told that I could put it on a telaio (frame) to pull the tela and staple it in place so that it won't ripple. That sounded better to me, but the corniciaio wasn't happy about having to do that for one of my dipinti because it wasn't in the standard size.

"Ci devo pensare," (I have to think about it) I told him. I rolled my two dipinti back up and took them to the next corniciaio.

This corniciaio had the cornice that I wanted in the vetrina. I pulled out my dipinti and pointed out the cornice to him. He said that that type of cornice would be perfect. My dipinti are brightly colored, so I'm thinking that the grezzo (raw) wood, which is lightly painted white, of the frame should go well together.

The corniciaio pulled out his calculator and started entering in a bunch of numbers. I watched, but could only see them blink quickly. He asked me, "Prima di Natale vuoi?" (Do you want them before Christmas?) "Sì, se è possibile." (Yes, if it's possible). He tapped some more and asked me if the price was OK. After I agreed half-heartedly, hoping for a small sconto (discount), he wrote it down on the receipt. I don't ask for sconti; I figure if someone wants to give it to me, I'll accept it.

He told me to come back or call on Monday to remind him about the two dipinti. He said that he has so much work that he needs to be reminded about projects so he knows he has to complete them. We talked a little more about the artist who painted my dipinti. He said that he was quite impressed with his work and had no idea that the guy painted them in Piazza Santa Croce.

As I walked out the door, I turned back toward him and yelled, "Non dimenticarmi!" (Don't forget me!). He laughed and waved goodbye to me. I know I'll be coming back to see him on Monday to remind him about my two dipinti. I'm excited to see them incorniciati (framed).

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