Accademia Riaci

The heritage of the traditional craftsmanship and the arts that flourished in Tuscany, especially in Florence, celebrated the glory of the Renaissance era as the true gem of arts. Workshops and studios of the craftsmen were the major driving power of the city’s production activities that helped Florence truly flourish as Italy’s artistic capital of the era, and they together with the merchants achieved glory and great fortune. Numerous magnificent artistic objects were created for baptisteries in the craftsmen’s studios, often those of goldsmiths. A good example is Maestro Benvenuto Cellini, who taught his superior sculpting techniques for making a nude statue out of marble to his apprentices in a studio somewhere. Today, these commissioned crafts executed by the beloved Maestro have been preserved for centuries as a true work of art. This legacy of the wholesome and special traditions of craftsmanship, such as gold and jewelry production, sculpture and painting, was, fortunately, lively inherited over many centuries in Florence and in the entire Tuscany region.