Meet the Florentine Jewelers Who Iced Out Conclave’s Cardinals

Conclave ranks among 2024’s most star-studded films, featuring the esteemed likes of Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini to play out the anxious machinations of its fictitious papal election. But just as notable is what those stars were studded with onscreen: custom crucifixes on chains, weighty rings of office, and cufflinks decorated with gemstones.

The Vatican-set political thriller has earned an Academy Award nomination for best costume design, thanks in no small part to the over 500 pieces of intricate custom jewelry shimmering across virtually every frame. And all of that hardware hailed directly from a Florentine father-and-son team who have crafted pieces for real archbishops, cardinals, and yes, even popes.

Paolo Penko and his son Riccardo became attached to the project in 2022, after being tapped by Conclave costume supervisor (and fellow Florentine) Ilaria Marmugi. The two were uniquely suited to the task: The elder Penko has done work for the Florence Cathedral and the three most recent popes, in addition to cofounding Florence’s Sacred Art School, where he taught both Renaissance-era jewelry-making techniques and the theology behind traditionally used symbols.

Riccardo Penko working on some of the 530 custom pieces created for Conclave. Courtesy of Riccardo Penko

“After I met Riccardo Penko and he showed me the first samples of his work, I gained a deeper insight into the world of Christian symbols day by day, and it seemed the only way forward for us,” says Conclave costume director Lisy Christl of working with the Penkos. “The knowledge and great passion of Riccardo and his family and their unconditional support for us on this film was such an important part of this work for me that it is almost impossible to put into words. No industrially manufactured jewelry could even come close to this craftsmanship.”

And so, the Penkos—who in addition to their ecclesiastical work, also produce jewelry for the laity and accept custom commissions through the US-based site L’Arte Nascosta—found themselves with the job of a lifetime, with just over two months for their team of six (which includes Riccardo’s mother, Beatrice, and his older brother Alessandro) to actually complete it. The most pressing task was to design the main characters’ cross necklaces, a process they undertook in-house after being briefed by Christl on the film’s plot, which sees cardinals of varying ideological stripes scramble to name a new pope.

Edoardo Argenio

Edoardo Argenio

The Penkos, to put it mildly, are familiar with sacred jewelry. But rather than recreate museum pieces, they decided to pursue wholly original designs. “We needed to create new crosses, because this movie is a contemporary movie.… We wanted to imagine Conclave as something real, but also very fashionable and stylish,” Riccardo says.

Just as importantly, the crosses had to be “real” crosses, made to the same standards as their sacral commissions and not mere Hollywood facsimiles. To that end, the crosses were plated in either silver or gold (in keeping with preferences of actual modern-day cardinals) and decorated with real gemstones including topaz, lapis lazuli, carnelian, and moonstone. “Beauty is very connected to the divine in some way. And that’s why we wanted to decorate the crosses front to back,” Riccardo says.

Ultimately, the Penkos designed and created 150 wholly unique crosses for Conclave with Christl’s input, employing methods from wax casting to hand-engraving with homemade bulino chisels identical to those used by Renaissance artisans. Named characters received the pieces richest in symbolism, which were delivered to the actors with notes explaining their theological importance.

To cite one example, Riccardo points to the crucifix worn by the mysterious Cardinal Benitez, played by Carlos Diehz. As a reflection of his ascetic faith, Benitez wears a silver-plated representation of a wooden cross, lashed with ropes recalling Christ’s Passion and tendrils of ivy symbolizing hope. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the gold-plated cross worn by Sergio Castellitto’s arch-conservative Cardinal Tedesco, whose curvilinear ends evoke classical Venetian art and five red agate stones stand in for the domes of St. Mark’s Basilica, bringing the church’s history and tradition to mind.

“In each cross there was a hidden symbol. Because the uniform of the cardinals was the same, the crosses were able to tell something about the story of the cardinal,” Riccardo says.

Edoardo Argenio

Edoardo Argenio

The film’s political tug-of-war was also reflected in the crosses’ materials, with the liberal cardinals donning unadorned, silver-plated crucifixes and the more conservative characters wearing gold-plated pieces with stones—a divide that Riccardo has witnessed in his own work for the Church.

“We have a Church nowadays that is more modest, that doesn’t ask for stones or gold, and that likes very simple crosses. I think the one that Cardinal Lawrence wears in the movie is a perfect reflection of the Church today,” he says, referencing the plainer, linear cross worn by Ralph Fiennes’s character, which the actor personally selected from three proposed designs.

For obvious reasons, the vast majority of the jewelry was made for men. The exception was Isabella Rossellini’s steely Sister Agnes, whose small but compact silver-plated cross depicting the crucifixion on one side and the monogram of the Vatican’s Santa Marta residence (where the film is set) hinted at the character’s strong-willed personality.

Each male character’s cross was accompanied by a matching pair of cufflinks (save for Benitez, whose lack of bling was in keeping with the character). The links referred directly to the design of each character’s crucifix—Tedesco’s, for instance, were marked by the same semiprecious stones and plated in gold, while Lawrence’s were simple silver circles.

Edoardo Argenio

The production also ordered 150 gold-plated rings, which were more uniform owing to the tradition of popes granting the same design to the cardinals they appoint. In the universe of Conclave, this meant two distinct styles of heavy cardinals’ rings, one depicting Christ on the cross and the other the Chi Ro monogram made by superimposing the Greek capitals P and X, meaning “Christ.” But when it came to Benitez, who is made a cardinal in secret before the film begins, the Penkos could be more creative—they designed him a solid silver ring shaped like an open Gospel and engraved with an anchor and a fish, signifying stability and Christ’s disciples, respectively.

While the Penkos had previously made jewelry for productions at Florence’s La Pergola opera house, Conclave was their first foray into film. It will not be their last, as the workshop has already been engaged by another production. While Riccardo is mute on the details, it sounds like it will be set beyond the Holy See’s walls.

“Something completely different,” he says. “No cardinals this time.”