Art and culture

Tuscany, is known all over the world for its enormous wealth of monuments and works of art. The abundance of creativity from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance period was such that it has never been equalled since, either in terms of quality or quantity.

The figurative arts

Among the leading figures in the renewal of Italian painting that anticipated the new Renaissance values is the Florentine Cimabue who worked mainly in his home town but also in Assisi, Rome and Pisa, and his pupil Giotto, born in the Mugello valley, north of Florence. Giotto, whose works in Florence include the beautiful Cross in the Church of Santa Maria Novella, the great Madonna in the Church of Ognissanti and the frescoes in the Peruzzi and Bardi chapels in the Basilica di Santa Croce, moved away from the rigid Byzantine schemes, introducing elements such as the sense of space, volume and colour, towards modern painting.
Among the myriad of Tuscan masters, a place of honour goes to the architect and sculptor Filippo Brunelleschi: he is to thank for the study of perspectives and the rediscovery of the simplicity and purity of classical buildings. As an architect he designed the famous dome of Santa Maria del Fiore and worked on the façade of the Spedale degli Innocenti and the restoration of numerous Florentine churches.
Just a few of the numerous Florentine artists who worked during the Renaissance period: Masaccio, whose frescoes can be admired in the Church of Carmine, Lorenzo Ghiberti, known for the Doors of the Baptistry in Florence, Paolo Uccello, Piero della Francesca, Sandro Botticelli.
Another artist of extraordinary talent was Michelangelo. Born in Caprese in the province of Arezzo, he was fortunate to be accepted into the Medici court as a painting and sculpture student. The artist, who worked mostly in Rome, designed and partially built the New Sacristy of the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence, to house the tombs of the Medici family. Again in Florence, he was commissioned by the Wool Art Corporation, to make the impressive statue of David, symbol of the emerging Republican ideal.
An ingenious, versatile character was Leonardo da Vinci, born in a small town west of Florence. Leonardo tried his hand at many different trades: he was a painter, sculptor, architect, scientist and engineer and made an original contribution to all fields of knowledge and art, often opening up the way to new schools of thought and even anticipating discoveries in the modern age.

Tuscan Literature

The greatest Tuscan personality in the field of literature is most surely Dante Alighieri, who was born in Florence in 1265. He actively backed the Guelphs after the Ghibellines’ victory and was subsequently exiled, spending most of his life far away from his home town writing works like the famous Divina Commedia (Divine Comedy). Dante, however, was not the only literary star in the fourteenth century. Along with him Petrarch and Boccaccio lay the foundations for the development of Italian literature. Petrarch, born in Arezzo of Florentine parents in exile, wrote various works, the most influential of which being the Canzoniere; Boccaccio, Florentine by birth, wrote the masterpiece-collection of short stories, the Decameron.
One of the major writers from the Renaissance period was Niccolò Machiavelli, known for his Prince and the lively play Mandragola.
Closer to our times, the greatest Tuscan writer from the twentieth century was most certainly Vasco Pratolini who also worked in the theatre and the cinema. One of his most famous works was the trilogy Una Storia Italiana, of which the first novel, Metello, roused a violent debate in the literary circles of the time.

Music

As regards music, one great Tuscan composer was Giacomo Puccini, who wrote many of the most famous operas such as La Bohème, la Tosca, Madama Butterfly and la Turandot, that are still shown on stage throughout the world even today.
Coming back to our times,  another Tuscan is Andrea Bocelli, a great operatic voice on a National and International level, Litfiba, the lead singer of which, Piero Pelù, has now gone solo, Jovanotti, Irene Grandi and Gianna Nannini.

The cinema

In the world of cinema Franco Zeffirelli is the most famous Tuscan director. His most famous films include: Romeo e Giulietta (Romeo and Juliet) (1968), Il giovane Toscanini (the young Toscanini) (1988) and Amleto (Hamlet) (1990). Other Tuscans include Neri Parenti, who directed the comedian Paolo Villaggio in a very long series of films, and the actor Leonardo Pieraccioni, who wrote Il Ciclone.
And the most highly acclaimed Italian comedian, the irresistible Roberto Benigni, light-hearted actor and writer with cutting wit who reached the height of his popularity with the wonderful film La vita è bella (Life is Beautiful), which won 3 Oscars including best actor.