The Archetypal Bronzes by Andrea Roggi

In 1991 he set up the art workshop La Scultura di Andrea Roggi, where he has been crafting his sculptures from start to finish and, with the help of his assistants, he manages to create large-sized yet finely detailed pieces. Bronze is the material he chose, which he puts through the lost-wax casting process to finally transform the clay models into masterpieces.

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Poliziani Crafts

In Montepulciano there have been many handicraft productions, stories of local productions that, handed down over time, have contributed to creating a real history of tradition and culture. Visiting the artisan workshops of Montepulciano is a bit like taking a journey through history: here, women and men adapt a thousand-year-old tradition to the contemporary, made up of specialized practices and techniques starting from the elements that mother nature has granted.

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The Medici Fortress of the Girifalco

There has probably been a fortress on the hilltop overlooking Cortona since the 5th or 6th century BC, when the original Etruscan walls followed a course which roughly corresponds to the existing perimeter walls of today. However the first historical records describing a ‘strong and beautiful fortress’ date back to 1258 AD. Having been plundered and sacked several times during the wars with Arezzo it was sold to the Florentine Republic in 1411, together with the entire city of Cortona, although reconstruction work only began in 1527.

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Sentinel on the summer: Torrita di Siena

Torrita, once called “Turrita”, is first mentioned in a document dated 1037 where it is listed as the property of the Benedictine Abbey of Sant’Antimo near Montalcino.  As a fortified town with a surrounding wall and four towers, it later served as a military outpost for the defense of Siena’s border with neighboring Montepulciano.  Later still, the town held Florentine ambitions at bay until it finally fell to the imperial forces of Charles the First in 1554 and the entire area passed into the Florentine Grand duchy.

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Antonio Massarutto, sculptor and designer

While the wire and kinetic sculptures of Alexander Calder and the works of Picasso have been stylistic influences, Antonio has a fascination for the animal world and the natural environment. He started his artistic career making abstract sculptures, but today his creatures include familiar beasts, such as wild boar and deer, dogs, and cattle, but also more exotic rhinoceros and crocodiles. His sculptures are often made of found and recycled materials, which led him to the concept of “land art”.  For these installations, Antonio finds a spot in the mountains or countryside and constructs a sculpture from the natural materials he finds on the site.

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Rosellina Avoscan: painter, sculptor and ceramist

Rosy’s art is particularly attuned to the twin themes of social justice and the plight of refugees fleeing from war-torn countries to find a new life.  Her goal is to communicate, educate and change perceptions through her art, and her works demonstrate this compassion and empathy.  Her mixed media work “Honorum” expresses just this, and is a personal way of honoring the lives of the many refugee children who have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea.

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