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Elena Drommi: from the refinement of stoles to illuminated tablets and ostrich eggs, following the ideal of the House of Fabergé’s high jewelry for the Tsar’s court.

That Elena Drommi is a Roman artist devoted to painting and to the highest forms of decoration—nurtured by training at the most prestigious Italian, European, and international art schools, yet above all endowed with an uncommon flair and refinement—can be seen in her remarkable versatility.

While the intellectual evolution of her path is mutable and becomes visible in her unique works—which, even as their subject matter changes with the moment, retain a Renaissance imprint—they also embrace representations that drift from the Far East to the Middle East, traverse the tribal aesthetics of Africa or Central America, animate the stillness of precious stones, or evoke the epic forms of ancient Greece, even breathing life into what ought to be “still life.”

Elena’s art does not confine itself to canvas or to the stole, as is commonly the case. Her constant drive to experiment, invent, represent, and create—and her ability to learn and adapt techniques according to the material she chooses as a base—has brought her to the attention of discerning connoisseurs of international art.

Perhaps for this reason, dealers, museum directors, collectors, and gallerists from the world’s most renowned art cities contact her through social media—the only medium she currently uses, for the sheer pleasure of letting others enjoy her creations—offering messages of esteem and admiration. These personal notes almost seem intended to “protect” and “shield” the artist from a cultural generalism that has spared not even the highest expressions of decoration and painting worldwide.

Out of a culture that unites inventiveness, imagination, study, and knowledge was born her decision to paint ostrich eggs. Preparing an art exhibition in which she would present, alongside hand-painted stoles and self-produced illuminated tablets, she conceived the idea of exhibiting eggs painted with polychrome enamels.

Someone very dear to her sent her, as a gift, ostrich eggs—far larger than the familiar hen’s egg and indeed the largest of all eggs, reaching up to 38 centimeters in height.

Eggs that were then quite rare, but which for Elena hold a special significance: elementary like spheres yet elongated and elegantly tapered.

A form which, in Russian tradition, carries a special meaning—so much so that such eggs came to be used as true jewels to be presented to the Tsars.

The typical example is the Fabergé egg: works of jewelry fashioned as Easter eggs, conceived at the court of the Tsar of all the Russias by Peter Carl Fabergé of the eponymous House, between 1885 and 1917.

Of a total of 69 eggs, 52 were created for the court, and 46 still survive.

The eggs vary widely in their technical features, appearance, and dimensions—ranging from the size of a hen’s egg to that of an ostrich egg—yet they are fashioned from a great variety of precious materials. Many open in two, are clad in colored enamels, stones, or metals, and are decorated in Rococo or Art Nouveau styles.

It is worth recalling that Fabergé and his goldsmiths designed and made the first egg in 1885 at the commission of Tsar Alexander III of Russia, as an Easter surprise for his wife, Maria Feodorovna.

Even today, ostrich eggs enjoy great appreciation in the realm of high antiques, where rarities can be found—reserved for the most elevated collecting—mounted on precious stands or set like monstrances in silver and bronze, yet left white and undecorated.

The possibility of having monstrances finely embellished with prominent artistic motifs—such as those Elena knows how to convey—adds a further touch of elegance to these precious objects, expressing singularities so elevated, with studied and refined designs, that they inevitably become more sought-after and impossible to reproduce.

The eggshell, made of calcium carbonate (approximately 95–97% of its weight), is a material akin to marble and to seashells—resistant, lustrous, and beautiful to decorate and paint.

Her idea, therefore, is to ennoble them even more by painting them, artistically reinterpreting them so as to confer that value of high collectability which so appeals to the antiques public.

The images and motifs that Elena conceives—seeing them first in her mind—are scenes from ancient Italian, Persian, or Chinese painting, or precise iconographies, reinterpreted. This is why she loves them, just as she loves beauty, luxury, and the pursuit of the uncommon.

It is part of Elena’s artistic intellect to devise the technical solutions as well as the cultivated representations, both in the conception and in the execution of the work, which can only be considered unique and unrepeatable—thereby elevating its value even further.

For while the monstrance or stand may be reproducible, the egg—unique in itself—can never be identical, and consequently neither can the painting, making it a one-of-a-kind, living piece.

This is why sophisticated and highly regarded goldsmith workshops wish to acquire those works which, through Elena’s creativity, she succeeds in making alive—thus transforming their precious craft into one-off masterpieces.

It is no accident that for Elena—who has traveled widely, engaged in dialogue, and visited places and cultures in search of creative and practical benchmarks—true beauty finds its meaning in the difficulty of making each individual work unique, free from vulgarity, from common inspirations, from passing fashions, and from what everyone expects to be offered within the uniformity of a collective mindset.

A personality that is reflected in her daily life as well, where she recognizes she is not inclined to numerous friendships, but to a few, authentic ones.

An exacting and meticulous quest that unfolds constantly and, as anyone who has observed her social media can attest, she single-handedly pairs images of her works with music that fuses seamlessly with what she posts, becoming an unbanal focal point of heightened attention.

These are works not meant for everyone—shown in their entirety or through selected details—so that the attentive viewer can perceive the harmony and intensity of the piece and be captivated by its wholeness.

More than this, in step with the historical moment we are living through, she succeeds in embodying, conveying, and figuratively representing human interiority.

One of her most recent works demonstrates this: when examined by expert connoisseurs, it has been deemed an iconic representation of contemporary humanity.

Is this why specialists—constantly searching for truly precious works—follow her?

Does her simplicity contribute to and stimulate genuine connoisseurship—despite not yet having her own website, much requested by many, where she might offer works destined, inevitably, to enter the annals?

An Artist of Art for Art’s sake?