The 'little Athens' of Italy — marble sculpture, bronze foundries, and artists since Michelangelo
Pietrasanta is a small Tuscan town at the foot of the Apuan Alps whose white marble quarries have supplied sculptors for 700 years. Michelangelo came here to select marble for the Sistine Chapel ceiling figures and the tomb of Pope Julius II. Today the town still attracts international sculptors: Fernando Botero, Igor Mitoraj, and Jean-Michel Folon all worked here, leaving large bronze and marble works throughout the medieval streets and piazzas. Dozens of marble studios and bronze foundries operate openly — you can watch craftsmen carving marble or casting bronze using ancient lost-wax techn…
Pietrasanta was founded as a fortified garrison by Guiscardo da Pietrasanta in 1255. The Apuan Alps above the town contain the Carrara marble quarries — the same quarries that supplied ancient Rome and, later, Renaissance Florence. Michelangelo spent extended periods in Pietrasanta in 1516–1519, personally selecting marble blocks for papal commissions and attempting (unsuccessfully) to open new quarries. The 20th century brought a wave of international artists who discovered the combination of world-class marble, skilled local craftsmen, and bronze foundries capable of executing large-scale p…