Listen to “The World’s Greatest Goldbeater”

Written by Erla Zwingle, Contributing Editor
Narrated by Dinah Berkeley

Marino Menegazzo hammers gold leaf by hand into sheets 200 times thinner than a human hair. He works in the same studio where Titian, one of Italy’s great Renaissance artists, once lived and painted. Now Menegazzo’s craft, where the hand can still beat a machine, is on the edge of extinction.

Written by Erla Zwingle

Introduction by Summer Brown

Narrated by Dinah Berkeley

Produced by Larry Rosen

Music by Mike Snowden of “The Cigar Box Guitar Maker”

Listen or download more stories from our Podcast page, or on Buzzsprout and the following popular streaming services:

Erla Zwingle, Contributing Editor, has written for dozens of magazines over the past 30 years, primarily National Geographic, to which she has contributed 25 articles as well as writing its Guide to Venice.
Dinah Berkeley, originally from Chicago, holds an MFA from A.C.T. and a BFA from Ohio University.