My eyes slowly adapted to the dim light inside the church; outside, half a meter of snow reflected the brightness of the bright blue sky. As my vision adjusted, the outlines of benches, candles, and an altar came into view. Then, I saw what I came for: a white dress adorned with golden flowers, a blue cape, and a golden crown carefully balanced on her head. To me, this statue of a young Virgin Mary was more than art—it was a window into lives I had spent months unravelling.
At the base of the statue was a small plaque bearing the name Bernardi & Nieri. For those familiar with surnames from San Cassiano, this name should ring a bell. However, I wasn’t in San Cassiano di Controne or Bagni di Lucca. In fact, I was more than 6000 kilometres away from the hills of Prato Fiorito; I was in a small, rural town between Montreal and Quebec City in French-speaking Canada.
The statue in front of me represented the legacy of Arcangelo and Lorenzo Nieri, an ambitious uncle-and-nephew team from Cocolaio, San Cassiano, who left their homeland to build a life and career in Montreal. The statue was also a tribute to another nephew, Basile Bernardi, whose roots in Bagni di Lucca and San Cassiano (though born in Brussels, Belgium, to parents from San Cassiano) wove him into the family’s narrative.
The Origins
The story of Bernardi & Nieri began as a one-man venture by Lorenzo Nieri (known as “Laurent” in French-speaking Montreal). The first record of the one-man business appears in Lovell’s Montreal Business Directory in 1925–26 [1]. Lorenzo had emigrated from San Cassiano to Montreal in 1906 [2], likely working for other Italian-led figure-making businesses in the city while laying the foundation for his own enterprise.
In 1911, Lorenzo was joined by his 16-year-old nephew, Arcangelo, who arrived in Montreal with only $25 to his name [3]. Leaving behind his home in Cocolaio, San Cassiano [4], Arcangelo’s original destination was listed as visiting a friend, Filippo Paoletti, in Montreal [3]. It is unclear how quickly he reconnected with his paternal uncle Lorenzo once he had arrived in Montreal, but given the vibrant Italian community in Montreal, it seems likely the two joined forces soon after.
Arcangelo eventually returned to San Cassiano sometime before 1920 to marry Adele Bastiani (b. 1897, Vizzata, San Cassiano)[5]. The couple moved permanently to Montreal in 1920, joining Lorenzo’s growing business. Over the following decade, the family enterprise flourished.
By 1933, the business name officially changed to Nieri & Bernardi, as recorded in Lovell’s Montreal City Directory[8]. This name change signalled the inclusion of a third partner: Basile Bernardi. Basile’s connection to the Nieri family is both fascinating and complex. In fact, Basile was born in Brussels, Belgium, to Roberto Bernardi (from Boveglio, Bagni di Lucca, who later moved to San Cassiano) and Amalia Fabbri (herself born in Brussels to parents from San Cassiano). After Amalia’s death in 1914, Roberto remarried in 1916—to none other than Lorenzo Nieri’s sister, Lucia Nieri[6]. This marriage made Basile a step-nephew of Lorenzo Nieri and a step-cousin to Arcangelo Nieri.
With Lorenzo nearing 60 years of age by the 1930s, the addition of Arcangelo and Basile—both nearly 25 years his junior—provided a strong foundation for the company’s operations. By 1937, the business had relocated to 1289 Maisonneuve in downtown Montreal, where many of the company’s surviving religious statues and ornaments were created [1,8,9].
Bernardi & Nieri became one of the three major figure-making businesses in Quebec, alongside Carli et Petrucci and Barsetti & Frères (Barsetti and Brothers)[10]. Interestingly, Barsetti & Frères also had roots in San Cassiano—a discovery I stumbled upon during this research, which might warrant another Featured Story!
In 1939, Arcangelo—together with his son Marcel—decided to establish their own company, Nieri et Fils (Nieri and Son), at 415 Notre Dame Est in Montreal[11]. The onset of WWII, however, changed everything…
Sources
[1] Collection d’annuaires Lovell de Montreal et sa region, 1842–2010 [Lovell’s Montreal Business Directory] (1926). Available from Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Québec (BAnQ) at: https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3653286
[2] Library and Archives Canada. Census of Canada, 1911. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Library and Archives Canada, 2007. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/8947/records/1379694?tid=&pid=&queryId=dcf93c66-d143-422b-8f71-6f17c43ee460&_phsrc=DcX12&_phstart=successSource. Series RG31-C-1. Statistics Canada Fonds. Microfilm reels T-20326 to T-20460.
[3] The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897–1957; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715; RG Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787–2004; RG: 85. Available from: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/7488/records/4005107175?tid=&pid=&queryId=e1e7aa7b-d802-47a3-b404-a2dfc4a4b1e4&_phsrc=fGB1&_phstart=successSource
[4] Civil births for Bagni di Lucca, Toscana, Italy (1894). Arcangelo Nieri. Registration #383, p. 131. Available from: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9W7-NQD8?view=explore&groupId=M9C7-N44
[5] Civil births for Bagni di Lucca, Toscana, Italy (1897). Adele Bastiani. Registration #357, p. 121. Available from: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99W7-NSLM?view=explore&groupId=M9C7-N4Z
[6] Civil marriages for Bagni di Lucca, Toscana, Italy (1916). Roberto Bernardi, Lucia Nieri. Registration #18, p. 162. Available from: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99W7-1XTB?view=explore&groupId=M97N-J15 (marriage banns).
[7] The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897–1957; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715; RG Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787–2004; RG: 85. Available from: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/7488/records/4017953917?tid=&pid=&queryId=e1e7aa7b-d802-47a3-b404-a2dfc4a4b1e4&_phsrc=fGB1&_phstart=successSource
[8] Collection d’annuaires Lovell de Montreal et sa region, 1842–2010 [Lovell’s Montreal Business Directory] (1933). Available from Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Québec (BAnQ) at: https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3653395
[9] Minisere de la Culture et des Communications: Repertoire du patrimoine culturel du Quebec. Statue (Notre-Dame du Cap), Maison Bernardi et Nieri, Montreal. Available from: https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=177043&type=bien
[10] Buduroi, J. (2021) La sacra famiglia al museo [museum exhibition]. Available from: https://www.saint-joseph.org/en/la-sacra-famiglia-al-museo/
[11] Collection d’annuaires Lovell de Montreal et sa region, 1842–2010 [Lovell’s Montreal Business Directory] (1939). Available from Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Québec (BAnQ) at: https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3653508
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