Italy’s Fabriano, the oldest paper mill in Europe, has been making paper since 1267. Fabriano invented three major innovations that are still part of papermaking today. They invented the watermark, developed the first surface sizing to protect paper, and the Hydraulic hammer for beating pulp. They are famous for producing the finest art supplies and watercolor papers for over seven centuries. Today, it is the only mill to produce hand, mould, and machine-made papers under one name, offering an extraordinarily wide range of fine art papers for all purposes. Fabriano was the paper of Michelangelo, Raphael, Durer, and Goya. Artwork from these artists done on Fabriano paper exists today as a testament to its enduring quality.

Fabriano is responsible for three major innovations that are still part of papermaking today:

Animal Gelatin Sizing/ Surface Sizing to control absorbency of paper and improve its strength and archival characteristics. Before gelatin sizing, there was only starch sizing which did not age well and didn’t allow for public documents to be done on paper!
Hydraulic hammer pile with multiple screens beats pulp, improves consistency and surface quality of paper. This eliminated the stone mortar and wooden pestle method previously used.
Watermark particular mark that can be seen when held up to light, but does not disturb the surface of the paper. Watermarks were first used to identify the papermaker and now identifies the type of paper and mill.