The Butterfly Collection by Il Maestro Acquafresca is inspired by one of the most beautiful and delicate creatures in Nature. Their detail and complicated anatomy is a challenge to precisely capture in metal using the technique of chasing and repoussé. This ancient relief technique consists of moving metal using hammer and chisels that are handcrafted by the master using a traditional, centuries-old, Italian technique.

On a more artistic level there is a deeper reason to choose this amazing insect as the main object of the collection. The butterfly possesses the capacity to transform itself from a simple grounded caterpillar to a colourful winged creature, an analogy of change and evolution in time which has long inspired Il Maestro Acquafresca. In his art Acquafresca explores the beauty as well as the fragility and sensitivity of the butterfly as essential characteristics with which he closely identifies both as an artist and as a human being.

After choosing the butterfly as a subject, Acquafresca began a process of deep study of their varieties and anatomical structure, that included several visits to butterfly farms and institutes in Costa Rica, a country which is home to ten percent of known butterfly species worldwide. Every piece of jewelry thus created represents a specific species of butterfly. Each one is painstakingly hand-crafted in silver, gold, or a combination thereof, depending on species-specific pattern and coloring, and is one of a kind.