“Who works with his hands is a worker. Who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. Who works with his hands, his head and his heart is an artist.”
– St. Francis of Assisi –

Amiata Arts And Crafts

In Amiata, a mountain between the Maremma and Val D’Orcia, in one of the most beautiful Tuscan areas, there are more and more jobs that have to give way to more profitable businesses and the abandonment of these ancient crafts produces incalculable cultural damage, depriving the historic centers of traditional references.

I asked a friend of mine to help me to track down such figures, understanding how this mountain has managed to create a florid artisanal luxury tourism up to the present day.

With the best way of direct communication that I know, photography, I want to protect these ancient trades and avoid their “mutilation”.

The goal is to safeguard and preserve the value of endangered ancient crafts imbued with a high degree of professionalism, in the hope of stimulating a generational exchange.

Therefore the hope is to promote a rediscovery (especially by the youngest people) of professions that, though at risk of extinction, touch ancient arts where the craftsman made the real difference. These figures have an important historical, cultural, as well as economic weight, given the steady increase in demand for ancient crafts, which too often cannot be accomplished as the fundamental element is in fact lacking: the artisan.

Ancient crafts represent a cultural, economic and productive field of extraordinary importance for our country. They need visibility and consideration equivalent to the artistic and cultural role they play. Talent, concentration, precision, vocation and dedication: today as yesterday these arts are able to bring satisfaction and personal fulfillment to the craftsman who sees himself engaged in a process of interpretation and concretization of a mission entrusted by the customer to transform an abstract idea in a concrete reality.

All this is what makes the Made in Italy excellence. This is how this photographic project began to take shape, made up of local characters linked to their arts, to their ancient crafts. And as far as possible, I would like them to always be remembered like this: authentic, exclusive, true.

The Wicker

Among the oldest works of craftsmanship in the world, basketry is the art of solving one of the all time problems: the need for carrying natural produce. Hence the need to weave leaves, shrubs of any kind to build a container. The art of weaving has been orally handed down through the generations.

In Italy the most used material is willow, salix viminalis, commonly called wicker.

Massimo has been working on it for years, teaching art in several courses around the Amiata area. Baskets, pots, chandeliers, bags and much more are the typical products that he creates and that he shows at local markets.

A medium-sized basket takes eight hours of work, from finding the material in the river, peeling it, drying it and soaking it and then, finally, working it.

The Shoemaker

A work of repairs, replacements and creations of shoes, with materials such as leather, rubber and glue.

This too is an art rather than a craft, whose origins are lost in the stories of medieval guilds, when San Crispino became their patron saint. In the 1950s, the mechanized production of footwear created a huge crisis among artisan producers.

Vladimiro, known by all as Biro, has been doing this job since he was a child when he moved to Switzerland to learn the trade and then returned to Amiata to stay.

The Straw Blower

Wicker upholstery and padding, olive groves, leaf straw: this is now a not very widespread profession, given the increasing production of industrial products. An ancient art that undoubtedly leaves all those who witness the processing fascinated and hypnotized.

A demanding job that also lasts many days, depending on the product to be made. An ancient art handed down over the years, carried out according to repeated and careful gestures, always the same, as taught by Bruno, a straw maker from time immemorial.

The Cheesemaker

The first cheesemakers date back to the Sumerian civilization and today milk is still being processed respecting ancient traditions. The dairyman’s skills include weighing the milk, adding rennet, and putting it into shape, skimming and buttering.

You become one of these artisans by tradition or by attending schools and training courses often funded by the regions themselves, but the will to pass it on depends on love and individual vocation for this profession which is certainly not at risk of extinction to date. And Bernardo and his daughter Eleonora are tangible proof of this.

The Farrier

With the advent of cars and the mechanization of the farming after the second world war, has replaced the use of the horse in these activities, saving costs. Nowadays it is mainly bred for racing, to produce meat or to extract wood from the forest, as well as being used in excursions to rediscover the beauty of nature. In Amiata there are places dedicated exclusively to these activities.

Being a farrier today, like yesterday, is a work of skill and experience that takes the form of shaping iron, forging it according to the “needs” of each individual animal, so as not to cause physical problems to the animal and its owner.

Fabio has such a strong passion that he decided to teach this art and put it into practice even in the most famous equine event in Italy: the Palio di Siena.

The Alpaca Breeders

Domesticated camelids for the production of wool: these are Alpacas, animals of uncertain origin that are bred in South America at altitude of up to 5000 meters but which thrive as well on the Amiata, thanks to Rossella and Riccardo and guarantee the wool to anyone seeking to treat themselves to handcrafted creations.

It is in fact the finest quality wool for brilliance and lightness, does not contain lanolin, does not fel and does not cause allergies. It can take on as many as twenty-two different natural colors.

Rossella and Riccardo, a Florentine couple who moved to the ancient volcano, intuited their destiny one Sunday morning, by chance, watching a documentary on television and today they are carrying on the ancient profession of breeders in complete autonomy, despite the difficulties.

The Carver

The olive tree has been present throughout the history of our Mediterranean area as a symbol of peace and brotherhood. Today the craft of the carver allows you to create bowls, trays, candlesticks, vases from this tree while after been cut with the band saw, the roughed piece of olive is processed in the lathe and then turned into objects thanks to the manual skill of its creator.

Despite the value of this wood, it is still little used today for furniture of high artistic value but the market for furniture pieces, musical objects, sculptures, letter openers, kitchen utensils and more is yet interesting.

A profession where you need to devote a lot of time and have a profound vocation: its development is a concrete commitment. Alessandro demonstrates this, who with his brother and father has been running a specialized company for many years.

The Distiller

The term “distillation” means “drop by drop separation”. The distillation is a technique known since the Middle Ages, initially applied only to the production of alcoholic beverages.

Merit of the alchemists who, through it, sought the “fifth essence“, a substance that by composition did not belong to earthly things and was not attributable to the four known elements: earth, fire, wind and water. Already in 4000 BC the Egyptians distilled wine and cider to produce other alcoholic beverages.

To this day it is still done by hand, in rare cases, for the own production of distillates for family use. Or as the calm Giancarlo says: “to give it to some friend who comes to visit me”. On the other hand, to create a liter of grappa, it can take well over three hours and fifty liters of wine.

The Stonemason

Defined as a sculptor without art, it is instead a fascinating and hard profession, underestimated and full of anecdotes. We continually pass in front of carved stone portals, with reliefs or with columns with inextricably chiseled capitals, on which sculpted architraves rest: they are artifacts that not only embellish but determine the harmony and beauty of the urban ensemble.

Just think about the windowsills, the frames of the windows, the thresholds of the doors, steps, balustrades. The stonemason’s work is everywhere, under the eyes and often the feet of all of us. It is necessary to be able to grasp with greater attention the greatness of this profession that has enveloped us for centuries.

Today there are few left and they are satisfied with small commissions, but Alessandro works incessantly with the municipalities of Amiata and goes to the stone of the mountain with which he is in love.

The Blacksmith

This is a very old profession but still offers excellent job opportunities today. The Blacksmith creates objects by giving shape to metal when it is in a non-liquid state, heating it until it becomes incandescent, and subsequently forging it.

Before the industrial revolution, the forge was at the base of every city but mass production techniques have reduced the presence of blacksmiths and their figure resists where traditional craftsmanship is still in demand.

Duilio, now close to retirement, admits that today the customer is no longer willing to spend large amount of money for a unique and artisanal creation, preferring mass-produced products without a real soul.

The Chimney Sweep

That of the chimney sweep is a profession that has a long history and that has evolved considerably over time.

A profession born a few centuries ago, it was carried out mostly by children and young people, beggars or orphans, who had to be slender and agile to easily enter the chimney and clean it.

To date, the increasingly frequent use of heating systems such as fireplaces, stoves and boilers powered by woody biomass unexpectedly creates a return of this figure which in our imagination remains romantic and nostalgic at times.

Claudio is a living example of how such an ancient mansion manages to survive today, as he says, “out of necessity, virtue“.

The Chiseller

Embossing and chiselling, a noble and ancient art, already practiced by Egyptians, Cretans, Greeks and Romans.

Each chiseller builds his own tools, by virtue of the need of the moment, which remain so personal and unique. A good chiseller must first of all be a good draftsman so that the possibilities of realization with the embossing and chiseling technique become endless.

Art therefore becomes a means of inner expression to give shape to the beauty and harmony that everyone carries within themselves. A tiring profession, despite its indispensability in the goldsmith context, which Erminio, a meticulous and trained artist, carries out with an extremely contagious passion.

The Goldsmith

A profession that is lost in the mists of time that has come down to us for reasons that are not only practical, but often linked to vanity and the ostentation of one’s wealth. The processing of gold, which was one of the first metals to be used for its indestructibility and malleability, is mostly identical to the ancient one.

Even goldsmithing is affected by the epochal change and today no longer produces for a niche of people, but seeks mass production in an attempt to guarantee its exclusive craftsmanship.

Simonetta believes that “we have to fight with beauty” and that “the world needs beautiful things”, thus untying a precious raw material from an opulent concept, bringing it back within everyone’s reach. Almost.

The Miners

“We got up at six in the morning and returned at four in the afternoon.” “There was more brotherhood and involvement, because your life is linked to me and mine to you“. So Guido, Pietro and Giuseppe tell us about a life spent in the mine, between elevators, a sun that wasn’t there and acetylene.

In fact, for about a century, an intense industrial extraction of cinnabar, the sulphide from which mercury was obtained, was present in the Amiata area.

An infamous job, today certainly changed compared to once, but surely not without dangers.

The Ceramist

“What you have inside is reflected in what you do. What we are is reflected in the ceramics“. This is how Barbara, a professional and, above all, passionate for years ceramist, tells herself.

Ceramic has very distant origins and a very long history and is distinguished from terracotta because the latter one is not painted: precisely this difference highlights the evolution of ceramics. The object ceases to be just a practical tool, becoming an object of decoration, capable of representing a social status and telling a story.

Over time, new and better processes have been discovered and the quality of the decorations has begun to intensify, up to the today’s very elaborate artefacts. And it is this constant evolution that keeps the ancient profession of the potter still alive.

The Restorer

Restoring means to restore splendor to the works they have passed through the centuries and bear their marks. The restorer is a skilled craftsman who takes care of the ancient works and restores their original aesthetic appearance while respecting their historical location and artistic values.

It is a fascinating profession that requires a great passion for art and antiquity, but also a good dexterity, artistic sense and a deep knowledge of art and different materials.

Carlo, who has been practicing this profession for fifty years and passed it on to his daughters, loves to use natural products as much as possible, still producing shellac in total autonomy.

The Decorator

Painting was the most used practice of expression by prehistory up to the contemporary world.

Its tools are brushes, its vocation is called patience: so Manila, returned to her homeland after a long absence, decorates her ornamental artistic ceramics, linked to the territory of Amiata and Val D’Orcia, an area she loves deeply because “you don’t appreciate things when you have an eye on them, but when you leave“.

The Donkey Breeder

The “Amiata” donkey is an ancient breed, recognizable by the coat that bears a scapular cross.

In the area of Mount Amiata from which it takes its name, it was used as a pack, draft and mount beast until it was declared an endangered breed: it was the eighties when there were only two specimens left of this “Ciuco Amiatino“.

Luciano took on the burden of keeping the breed alive and today he has repopulated the mountain with the presence on the territory of over sixty animals, giving it value and importance as it is bred for someday excursions, to practice onotherapy and more generally for the pet therapy.

Even today, despite the efforts of the locals, the Amiata donkey is not out of danger of extinction.

The Clockmaker

The figure of the clockmaker was born at the same time as the origins of the mechanical clock, approximately in the Middle Ages. Working with the hands today means above all “to repair”.

Craft of ancient tradition, but a long time underestimated technical sector with workshop masters who have dispersed the craft, closed the business and no one who continued their profession.

Alessandro takes us in front of the clock that for years has marked the chimes of life in an Amiata town and confesses that due the way things are today “he prefers to stop rather than consume these traditions“.

The Seamstress

The tailor, today as yesterday, is a skilled craftsman in all respects and in Italy it has been a profession that has marked the history of costume and fashion. Sensitivity, aesthetic taste, dexterity and artistic flair are the skills necessary to become a tailor.

The need of the human race at its dawn to cover the body therefore has ancient origins: we can trace it back to the Paleolithic.

Our desire for beauty, value and the need to represent these things makes tailoring a contemporary art and Nedra, born in 1939, loves sewing but also “making the sock” and has been doing it for seventy-five years.

The Upholsterer

The origin of the use of upholsterers dates back to the Temple of Jerusalem, the first century after Christ. But if we want to find an era in which curtains, blankets and pillows begin to flourish in the homes of the rich bourgeois, it is certainly the fifteenth century.

The imagination of the upholsterers represented the real added value in the decoration of the houses, creating situations of absolute prestige.

According to Guido, upholsterer for forty years, this profession will always exist but some types of processing will vanish due to the fashion of “disposable”, consumerism to be clear, which does not allow long life to upholstered wooden furniture, preferring a modern and industrialized style to a unique and personal work.

The Herbalist

Herbal knowledge was transmitted orally from one generation to another: it is an ancient science, which has its roots in the past millennia.

A craft that mixes its own hands in the extraordinary variety of wild herbs and plants found everywhere on the planet.

Even today, herbs play a vital role in the tobacco and beer industries, in the production of wines and liquors, as dyes and flavorings in confectionery and in the preparation of tinctures. They are used to prepare essences, natural oils, perfumes and cosmetics.

And Aurelio teaches us that it is precisely in distillates that herbs can give unique sensations, such as the Amaro Stilla, typical of Monte Amiata and based on ancient recipes of Cistercian monks. Because the Amiata area is unique for the biodiversity present in it.

The Beekeeper

Beekeeping is an activity that has been practiced by man for at least twelve thousand years and the work of the beekeeper essentially involves the recreation of the perfect living conditions of bees in the wild.

Honey was gradually supplanted as a sweetening agent especially after the introduction of refined sugar, but today beekeeping is an activity that enjoys good health and the craft continues to be handed down from generation to generation.

Massimo, twenty-three years of this activity, confides us the satisfaction of creating families of bees and seeing them grow, then collecting their product.

“The dignity of the artist lies in his duty to keep alive the sense of wonder in the world.”

– GK Chesterton –

Thank you.

The realization of a photographic project, which then turns into a book, a site, an event, is always the merit of a group of people who make their time, their financial resources and patience available to the common good. And of patience, really, it took a lot.

A year and a half of almost every weekend, miles of road and phone calls, emails and meetings, many shutters opened and closed to take a shot.

And this thanks to the combined strength of two people: Nicole Rozzi and Nicole Rossi.

Without them, nothing could have happened. Thank you from the deep of my heart.

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