Arte Fountain Pen, Gustav Klimt

For the cap of Arte: Da Ponte, the master artisans of our Atelier have entrusted their craft to Fuga in Egitto (Escape from Egypt), one of the most poignant and poetic of the Bassano master’s early works. A scene suffused with sacred everydayness, where the divine intertwines seamlessly with the real.

The naturalistic intent of Jacopo da Ponte reveals itself in the quiet detail of the figures on their journey and in the rolling Bassano landscape unfolding behind them: a vista alive with light, suspended between night and the first glimmers of dawn.

Miniaturist Alessandra Malesan interprets the warm, dust-toned palette of the original with masterful touch, capturing its atmospheric softness and compositional complexity. Every detail–whether the contemplative face of the Madonna or the silent bearing of Saint Joseph–contributes to a narrative both intimate and tangible: a perfect balance between spirituality and lived experience.

In the foreground, flowers painted with analytical precision carry layered symbolism: the hellebore on the right alludes to spiritual rebirth, while columbine and daisies evoke the innocence of the Virgin and Child. An iconographic choice that celebrates Jacopo da Ponte’s profoundly humanist vision–his singular ability to ennoble the humility of everyday life through art.

Dominating the barrel of Arte: Da Ponte is the artist’s self-portrait–an intense, contemplative work in which the master reveals himself with extraordinary candour. His face, framed by a white beard, and his steady, penetrating gaze present the image of a painter in full maturity, acutely aware of his journey and of the revolutionary scope of his vision.

That gaze, serene yet watchful, speaks of the man behind the art: the citizen of Bassano who regarded reality with both humanity and rigour. Upon the pen, his likeness stands as a symbol of coherence between art and life, craft and thought—an unspoken invitation to depth, integrity and beauty.

The detail chosen for the grip section is drawn from Madonna con il Bambino tra i Santi Matteo, Francesco, Lucia, il podestà Matteo Soranzo, la figlia Lucia e il fratello Francesco (Madonna and Child with Saints Matthew, Francis, Lucia, and the mayor Matteo Soranzo, his daughter Lucia, and his brother Francesco), painted in 1536 and today preserved at the Museo Civico of Bassano del Grappa.

Here, the young Lucia Soranzo, daughter of the patron, is shown caressing a greyhound puppy that rests trustingly on her knees: an intimate, disarming gesture that softens the sacred atmosphere of the scene with the tenderness of everyday life.

Her vertically striped gown–among the most elegant and distinctive garments of sixteenth-century painting–is rendered with painstaking precision, adding depth to the figure and heightening the richness of the detail. It is a fragment that distils Jacopo da Ponte’s vision: sanctifying the ordinary, and rendering the divine profoundly human.

For the cap of Arte: Boldini, the master artisans of our Atelier selected Provocazione (1885): a canvas charged with sensuality, where the grace of a simple gesture–the lifting of her hair–distils the tension and suspended allure of a fleeting instant, preserved forever by Boldini’s genius.

On the barrel of Arte: Boldini, La Dame de Biarritz (1912) radiates an aura of enigmatic elegance, draped in a gown of deep rose with cyclamen undertones. Its iridescent hues shift from magenta to fuchsia, dissolving into lighter notes of sugared pink, while the shadows intensify towards a purple depth.

Through Boldini’s luminous, vibrant brushstrokes, the fabric seems to quiver with life, as if imbued with its own inner light. The magnetic gaze of Mademoiselle de Gillespie embodies a new, modern femininity—confident, alluring, and irresistibly seductive.

The grip section and blind cap, recreated through the meticulous, jewel-like brushstrokes of Alessandra Malesan, echo the chromatic vibrations of La Dame de Biarritz. Here, cyclamen-pink fabrics, with their radiant highlights, are transfigured into precious ornament, enveloping the pen in a seamless continuum of rare refinement.

Each hand-applied stroke amplifies and elevates the painted subjects, weaving a chromatic harmony that unites every element of a singular masterpiece—signed Montegrappa.