Experience a truly enchanting holiday in one of my Tuscan Villas
A workshop with a calling for art.
A first glance, you’d say he’s a typical Pietrasanta youngster, with is ready smile and loquacity. But truth be told, Massimo Galleni is a member of “historic” generation of the city’s craftspeople: his grandfather started the family tradition and Masimo, who has been active in the sector since 1980, opened his own marble workshop about 15 years ago.
Massimo Galleni
Via Torraccia 5, Pietrasanta – Phone: +39 0584 793527
Web-site: www.gallenimassimo.it
Celebrating Beauty in Tuscany.
Timeless creations from a craftsman-jeweler, on Forte dei Marmi’s most exclusive shopping outings, Carlo’s Marchi‘s jewerly gallery is a mandatory stop.
Marchi is a jeweler who has defended and “fashion-proofed” his classical style. His selections and proposals withstand the test of time; his creation have a inner light all their own and value that goes far beyond purely material worth: rare quality made of unicity exclusivity and personality.
Carlo Marchi Gioiellere
Via Mazzini 7, Forte dei Marmi – Phone +39 0584 83844
Via S. Lucia 28, Lucca – Phone +39 0583 491346
Via Fillungo 69 Lucca – Phone +39 0583 494885
Web-site: www.gioielleriamarchicarlo.it
Surf’s up
At the Pontile, biting salt spray and crashing waves, walls of water, barrels and riptides: riding the giants, dreamin’ California… Forte dei Marmi’s sea like you never seen it: the best place in the world to be. In the tube.
It’s said that caution is a natural human mechanism. Caution, not cluck. And maybe this dualistic thought caution vs fear is what runs through the mind of the surfer riding the Versilia waves.
On that same sea, so safe and welcoming so perfect for kids and families, that canturn into an amazing arena of impetuous sewlls, barreling and mean; waves to catch, attack, caress and follow into whitewater. Pur collective California dream plays out in a bit of versilia’s sea near Forte dei marmi’s Pontile. An expanse of water that has become the Tyrrhenian playground for stoked foam-breathers on bords.
Everything turns on the waves, whenever, wherever: little snappers, crumbly waves, or big, glassy giants, perfect, pitching, peeling. An eternal pilgrimage in search of ideal spot, even if the best spots are right there, around the Forte Pontile and a tad downscaled at Marina di Pietrasanta. The surfer suffering from perennial abstinence thus sets off looking for a nice wave to share with some good friends. Bundled in a wetsuit in winter or reveling in skin-sea contact in a summer.
The rest, all the rest, is an explosion of utter freedom and pure passion. The kind that drives you to frenetically click all the surflines to see where the surf’s up and then “dive” down from the remotest inland sites in Versilia by scooter, Ape, car, bike, VW bus…. any means of locomotion is the right one for getting to the beach or the Pontile, board under arm, and paddling out. This is what it’s all about. Someone defined it “the innermost limits of pure fun”.
A step into liquid time. Momentum. Passion. Passion that takes you, with your board buddies to hangouts like the Nimbus Club. Or to explore the specialized shops – on the increase throughout Versilia. The same passion that, in a business key, has spawned a host of boardshops that build to order (Ola Surfboards of pietrasant, for example).
The sea is an open-air stage on wich the curtain never falls: in winter as in summer, at dawn as at the dusk of a long, long day the blue crush is a never-ending attraction.
A “fatal” attraction, while all around unpredictable and unsettling, the unceasing wind and the whipping sea foam vehemently caress the senses of the surfer on a living curl at the morning of the earth.
Tuscan art pottery in Montelupo.
Montelupo has been known over the centuries as an innovative and versatile center for creating masterpieces in ceramics. Montelupo was founded in the early Middle Ages and was taken over by the Florentine Republic in 1204. The area was again re-built as a military township and towards the 14th century the town was encircled by walls to protect it against enemies. Montelupo is 25 kilometers from Florence and evolves over an area near the Arno. Ranging over the southwestern hills of Florence, Montelupo lies in an area where the Arno joins the Pesa river valley. Montelupo expanded with a big villa built by the Medici family on the left bank of the Arno bordering the neighborhood of Ambrogiana. By the 19th century, the villa was turned into a prison asylum called the Ospedale Psichiatrico Guidiziario. But the innate talent and passion of the people of Montelupo grew and was sculpted into magical masterpieces in ceramics. Combining old techniques with new and blending art with ideas, Montelupo treasured and guarded fiercely a legacy of ceramic creations.
The artisans of Montelupo enchanted the world with an amazing variety of designs in vases, plates, plaques, tiles, flooring bricks and a host of versatile majolicas. The traditional Ceramic Festival at Montelupo opens myriad delights with the inhabitants dressing in costumes with a colorful pageantry of musicians and jugglers. The Medici Villa dell’Ambrogiana displays the work of its master craftsman, Buontalenti. Montelupo can be reached by crossing Montalbano and just before the middle bank of the River Arno, Montelupo, the ‘Town of Ceramics’, evolves over the lovely countryside of Tuscany. The soil of the river banks has molded the destiny of Montelupo with its rich natural clay soil that is ideal for craftsmen to sculpt this porous material into the making of the famous majolica. The warm and dry climate of the Mediterranean basin has been suitable for the creation of porcelain, ceramic and stoneware. The Majorcan merchants brought in this incredible art from overseas. The creations went through the influences of Hispano-Moresque lusterware, the Renaissance and that of Chinese porcelain. As a result, the ceramic creations were transformed into Faience, the French term for pottery or wares from Faenza, Italy. Soon it was the fashion and the nobility entranced with this lovely form of art, the majolica was used to decorate buildings, palazzos, royal courts and cathedrals.
The ceramic route evolved over the Tiber in Umbria and the Arno in Tuscany with various styles as history patterned people’s lives. Contado in the 13th century woke up from the heavy influence of the ‘stovigliai’ to the ‘archaic majolica’ that produced high quality ceramic products. The talented inhabitants of Montelupo experimented and produced awesome styles that ranged from the ‘international gothic’ the ‘graffite tirreniche’ (scratching technique) and the white ‘ingobbio’ style ending in the Florentine technique which included calcium or limestone and resulting in a stronger texture and finish. The 13th and 14th centuries saw the Montelupo craftsmen using ‘boccali’ which was a white kind of clay glazed over with a deep and creamy finish that was so beautiful that there was no need for the decorative finish which is evident in the ‘bianchi’ (whites) from Faenza. A series of changes resulted in an innovation by the artisans of Florence who used ‘bistugio’ covered by the Montelupo white glaze that brought about the ‘archaic blue majolica’. This was accepted with much popularity as the blue pigment blended with copper oxide resulted in the effect of lapis lazuli with deeper dimensional aspects. Majolica was used in relief works as ceramics with enamel resulting in the ‘zaffera’ work which can be seen in the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore and Massaccio’s Brancacci Chapel.
The Montelupo Museum of Archaeology and Ceramics in 1989 discovered a Roman ‘villa rustica’ which goes back to the 1st century B. C. near the Virginio River. The ‘slave villa’ or the ‘villa schiavistica’ is a unique find on the Tyrrhenian coast, north of Tuscany. Spurred on by this discovery, the Museum authorities dedicated the two upper floors to house archaeological exhibits that trace the origin of the majolica from the 1400s and the history of the influence of Montelupo ceramics. The origin of the famous majolica is displayed in a collection of 3,000 pieces of ceramics from the early Middle Ages to the Modern Period. The floors display the Local Archaeology section (Prehistoric times, Etruscans, Romans) and the Montelupo Ceramics section, from the Middle Ages up to the 18th century. The panels on the walls describe the evolution of ceramics with an old ceramics furnace inspired by the craftsmanship and dexterity.
Francesco Antinori signed a contract with 23 masters of ceramics for three years with three unique typologies. The 15th century saw the popularity of the Montelupo majolica going overseas to reach out to the whole world. As incredible information, 90% of the archaeological finds of Montelupo majolica were found in Amsterdam, London and Southampton. Lorenzo the Magnificent’s majolica collection was described as rinfrescatoi, scodelle, piatelli and alberelli as ‘di terra lavorata a Montelupo, bella’ (made from clay worked in Montelupo). Francesco Antinori also contributed other forms of majolica, especially, ‘donò Francesco Antinori per la caccia’ (given by Francesco Antinori for hunting). The museum opens out the art of colouring in ceramics with ‘zaffera tricolor’, the ‘damaschino’ and ‘istoriato’ styles. The Valdarno ceramists created the beautiful Madonna and Child, two lovely angel candle-stick holders in the Robbia style. The Medici collection features two pharmacy jars with Cosma and Damiano. Two bricks are seen with the building mark of Henry IVth. As another interesting fact, between the 1611 and 1617, eight floor coverings of majolica were ordered by Maria de’Medici, Queen of France for her Louvre Castle and her palace in Luxembourg. The lovely orci from the Marni workshop in Montelupo was bought by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1974.
The major majolica centers and their beautiful ceramic collection is seen in Deruta near Perugia that is known for its Bella Donna plates, intricate designs with Luster and Ricco Deuta and Raffaellesco designs and is famous for its school of Majolica in Italy. Gubbio and Gualdo Tadino were famous for their firing techniques with a gold and ruby finish that resembles these precious substances and was popular among the wealthy people. Orvieto and Siena are popular for their Etruscan style and Dame plates with court figures with deep purple and brown effects and copper oxide. Firenze and Sesto Fiorentino, under the patronage of the Medicis and other noble families was rich in its talent and creations in Majolica. Urbino, Pesaro and Casteldurante were patronized by the Montefeltro family which nurtured the talent of the young Raphael whose master was Perugino and whose influence spread to the entire region. Faenza was the seat of the powerful Della Rovere family and it was during the 17th century that the Count Fermiani on his travels to the Orient was inspired by Chinese porcelain from which evolved the Carnation pattern. Montelupo has had a long and fruitful heritage in the creation of majolica.
When you leave the walls of Lucca heading northwest on the SS 12 road (the Brennero) towards Abetone, you will immediatly begin to notice the mountains surrounding the plain of Lucca. Our trip is taking us to Brancoli. Or rather to the villeges of the Brancoleria. On entering the tiny village of Vinchiana perched right on the river Serchio, you will find a cluster of signs on your right, announcing the villages of the Brancoleria. The are many of them, and they are still inhabited and doing business, fortunately many are served by local Lazzi bus.
Piazza Brancoli is the oldest and was at one time a Roman lookout village called a platea. This tiny village sports one main road into the centre where a cluster of houses are still inhabited and several cobled roads leading up to houses on the hillside above.
The church of Santa Maria Assunta dates from the 700s and is still used.
There are also some families still working here in the trades of their ancestors, for example at the Studio di legno, where the Casoli Cecchettini family still make windows and doors.
In Campitello, the Di Aiuta family make a sweets and have a travelling van that goes all over the Lucca area.
The Giammattei Morelli family keep bees and sell their honey and other products in the Tuseday “mercato” in Ponte a Moriano and on the Brennero outside Lucca.
And the there is the wonderful “Bottega”, open daily and on Sundays by demand.
Established fifty years ago and run by Liliano Diodati, his wife Livia and their children, particulary Nara and her husband Armando. This wonderful emporium stocks fresh tuscan products and is godsend for villagers who would otherwise have no travel by car to do their daily shopping.
The “Bottega” now proudly displays a new sign, the work of local resident artist Marj Picchi, an enthusiastic customer.
With springtime weather now hopefully upon us, take a little trip from Lucca to explore this charming corner of the Garfagnana.
And if you think you may get peckish, you can place an order with Nara Diodati at the “Bottega” for a basket lunch or sandwiches by telephone on 0583.965041.