Artisans and workshops in Florence

In the Renaissance city of Florence, where beauty is born of skill and harmony is made by hand, there are special places that celebrate the wonderful heritage of master craftsmen; heirs of an ancient tradition with roots in the middle ages.

You can meet today’s passionate artisans who are driven by ingenuity and enthusiasm. Artisans who are a living embodiment of an idea taken from Saint Francis of Assisi, who said “he who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist”.

Photo credit: Fondazione Artigianato Artistico Firenze

These artists are Florence’s craftsmen and working in trades that were first created in the Renaissance and that continue on today. The many artisans and their diverse crafts can be found in workshops spread throughout the city center, in the Oltrarno neighborhood, and at the Fondazione Artigianato Artistico Firenze. These workshops and the artists who work in them are an integral part of Florence’s history and inextricably linked to our Florentine identity.

There are various ways for you to experience the secret world of these workshops. You can take a guided tour of the Oltrarno area workshops and meet artisans like Roberto Ugolini. Roberto has been making made-to-measure shoes by hand for decades, learning these skills from his father, who learned from his father before him.

Photo credit: Fondazione Artigianato Artistico Firenze

The small studio near the Santa Spirito church is filled with rolls of gorgeous leather and hand carved wooden lasts, which are works of art themselves. Roberto and his team of apprentices meticulously create one of a kind pieces that are sought out by fashionable customers around the world.

The mosaic workshops in Florence are extraordinary. From vast dining tables, to gilt framed pieces that look like paintings, but are actually incredibly intricate inlaid pieces of stone to fine delicate jewelry, the craft is the same. Semi-precious stones are selected and carefully hand cut. Then the pieces of stone are delicately placed into both ancient and modern designs to create unique and timeless pieces.

Bottega Scarpelli – Photo credit: Fondazione Artigianato Artistico Firenze

The Fondazione Artigianato Artistico Firenze is an integrated space where you can visit mosaic artists, woodworkers, glass engravers and masters of textile and paper crafts. Located deep in the Oltrarno neighborhood in a converted convent you will find workshops busy with artisans using the tools and secrets of the trade that have been handed down from their forefathers. The workshops are open for you to tour and meet the artisans in their workspace.

Duccio Banchi – Photo credit: Fondazione Artigianato Artistico Firenze

Would you like a chance to experience some of these techniques yourself? At the Fondazione Artigianato Artistico Firenze there are regularly scheduled labs on ancient techniques.

You can try your hand at the woodworkers lathe under the careful eye of Salvatore Mirenda and perhaps create an elegantly simple spinning top. With Francesca Del Magro you can work with semi-precious stones and learn the art of micro-mosaic jewelry making.

Photo credit: Fondazione Artigianato Artistico Firenze

Learn some of the delicate patterns of Renaissance design with a ceramics workshop with Veronica Fabozzo. Children can also participate in the fun and learn to make beeswax candles and watercolor cards.

Author’s Bio: Fondazione Artigianato Artistico Firenze aims to safeguard the skills and craft of artisans of the city of Florence by creating a modern collaborative space where both Florentines and visitors can learn and share.