Pietre di Rapolano is organizing, in collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence and Orti Dipinti, the event STONE FLOWER – Sculpture Competition aimed at young students of the Florentine Academy.
The splendid setting of Orti Dipinti, a community garden in the heart of Florence, will come alive with an open-air sculpture workshop for three days, from April 28 to 30, 2016.

The students of the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence, coordinated by the professor of Marble and Hard Stone Techniques Francesco Roviello, will work on some blocks of Vicenza stone provided by the company Grassi Pietre, engaging in the creation of their works armed with mallet, chisel, and rasps as per the tradition of stone cutters.

“There is indeed an ancient and particular tradition in working with Vicenza stone as well as the similar Lecce stone, or even Serena stone and Forte stone, which in the past saw the formation of a group of specialized craftsmen who favored this type of sandstone in the creation of statues and ornaments for gardens and palace facades. The fruits of this long tradition can be admired in many historic gardens of Tuscany, and it is worth mentioning the city of Lecce with its baroque ornaments that owe their extraordinary richness and virtuosity to the ductility of these sandstones and the craftsmen trained around its processing. Finally, it is worth recalling a typical production of Vicenza stone artifacts represented by the classic sculpted vases full of flowers, fruits, acorns, lizards, which adorn much of the Tuscan villas and can exemplify, albeit in a decorative accessory reason, the vocation of these sandstones to interpret the complexity of natural forms. It is precisely from natural forms that the eight students of the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence drew inspiration for their work, and it is to the aforementioned sculptural tradition that the title STONE FLOWER finally wants to pay homage.” (Prof. Francesco Roviello)

The workshop will be open and visitable on the 28th and 29th from 10 AM to 6 PM where it will be possible to see the young students at work. On April 30 at 5:30 PM, the award ceremony will take place as part of the White Night organized by the Municipality of Florence.

Additionally, it will be possible to participate in a clay workshop starting at 4:30 PM concurrently with the end of the Competition.
At 5:30 PM, the Award Ceremony will be held, decided by a special Commission composed of professors from the Academy of Fine Arts, architects, and professionals working in the stone industry. At the end of the day, there will be a musical moment with the performance of “La Nuova Pippolese,” a group of 20 instruments played with the “pippolo” (the pick, in Florentine): guitars, mandolins, and ukuleles that revive the traditional Florentine song.

The event organized by Pietre di Rapolano aims to promote the fruitful exchange between schools and companies and to enhance the great skill and specialization that our schools, heirs of long artistic and artisanal traditions, can convey and transmit to young students.