Stone Carver. The life and times of Franco Vallario’

Francesco Vallario was born in the village of Sant’Andrea di Conza on 6 August 1934 into a family of multi-generational carvers. Approximately in the middle of the region of Campania, in southern Italy, within the province of Avellino, lies this village. It is 6.47 square kilometres in area and located above the former township of Comune di Conza della Campania. The whole region is quite mountainous and subject to earthquakes and landslides. The major commercial and industrial city of Naples lies within the region, and the Bay with the same name has suffered from volcanic eruptions including the one that erupted in AD 79 on Vesuvius near the ancient Roman city of Pompeii. In more recent modern history, the Avellino province has been the subject of some major earthquakes

One of the more prominent families of this village who for generations had been involved in the stone carving industry were the Vallarios. Franco believes that the carving tradition goes back maybe five or six generations. Franco’s grandfather (nonno), Pasquale Vallario, was a master stonemason who, with a sculptor by the name of D’Angola Mauriello, had been employed to work on the Episcopio during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. His son Rosario Pompeo Vallario, Franco’s father (Pompeo), was born in 1893 in the village. He was one of fourteen children including his brother Fedele, another sculptor and carver. Pompeo became one of the many master stonemasons who originated from the Conza region.