The church of St. Mary in Olmi, of ancient origin but with its current appearance dating to the last century, preserves an important group of works from the San Lorenzo Furnaces. The church was heavily damaged by the 1919 earthquake. In 1935, the façade was rebuilt, and during that restoration, its central oculus, previously semicircular, was redone. This is also when the stained-glass window depicting Christ the King, which now fills the oculus of the façade, was installed. Iconographically, the stained glass recalls other earlier works from the Fornaci San Lorenzo, such as the lunettes in the churches of Pulicciano…
Author: Paolo Guidotti
The Villa of Valdastra was originally an ancient farmhouse belonging to the Servite Fathers of the Most Holy Annunciation, who were dependent on the Convento of Montesenario. The villa shows traces of the numerous modifications it has undergone over the centuries. In a small sitting room inside the villa, one can admire a beautiful Liberty-style ceiling framing, featuring a continuous frieze of tulips. The frieze is interrupted in line with the windows and the glass door that connects the room to a larger hall. Above the door, a panel is painted with two swans facing each other on a small…
On the façade of the Church of St. Peter in Luco, which once belonged to the ancient female Camaldolese monastery, there is a lunette in majolica depicting the Madonna with Child inside a tondo (circular frame) between two angels in adoration. The inscription at the bottom tells us that the work was donated in 1930 by the Traversi Barchielli family, likely as part of the extensive restoration of the church, which was completed in 1932. Dino Chini also contributed to the restoration, providing internal pictorial decorations that are no longer extant. The lunette does not appear to bear any factory…
This is a residential villa built in the 1920s, which was likely decorated during the same period with a ceramic frieze that runs along three sides of the house at first-floor level. The design features a vine-like motif, with snails creeping along the tendrils, and is composed of individual square tiles. The frieze is framed by spiral patterns that alternate in red and green. The geometric pattern is echoed in a series of small diamond-shaped orange tiles, which are placed on each of the pilasters dividing the facades. This work is certainly attributed to the Fornaci San Lorenzo, which was…
In the built-up area of Lutiano Nuovo, there is a large street tabernacle, as noted on the inscription affixed at its base by Prior Giuseppe Maria Brocchi in 1728, marking the location where a miraculous event is said to have occurred. In 1914, a date visible on a small ceramic plaque placed inside the tabernacle, Cavalier Giuseppe Maganzi Baldini, the owner, commissioned the San Lorenzo Furnaces to create a beautiful image of the Virgin with Child in painted majolica tiles, to replace the original, which had been irreparably damaged over time. The artefact, protected by a fine wooden grille, is…
Recent restorations at the Parish Church of San Silvestro in Barberino have also allowed for the recovery of paintings executed inside the church’s nave, commissioned by Tito Chini in 1931 by the then-parish priest Don Giuseppe Focacci. These works included the complete painted decoration of the church walls, the large choir, the two large side chapels, the other four smaller chapels, as well as the ceiling beams, sacristy, and the external façade with its loggia. Additionally, the Fornaci San Lorenzo manufactured the large polychrome stained-glass windows, while others were extensively restored and integrated, such as the Stations of the Cross…
The Michelozzian church of the Franciscan convent of Bosco ai Frati is enriched by a series of bright stained-glass windows with a faithfully neo-medieval taste, particularly evident in the presence of the mixed-line frame containing the coats of arms of the families that have participated in the history of the convent: Ubaldini, Medici, Gerini. Scheda di Marco Pinelli, foto di Francesco Noferini © Il Filo – Idee e Notizie dal Mugello Progetto Itinerario Liberty Mugello – Unione montana dei Comuni del Mugello
Inside the small and charming church of S. Giovanni Battista in Senni, nestled in the fertile countryside of Mugello, behind the main altar, we can admire two remarkable figurative stained glass windows, also signed by the San Lorenzo Furnaces: the first features a roundel depicting the Lamb of God with two noble coats of arms, while the other, similarly articulated, is characterized by an elegant bouquet of lilies surrounding a monogram with the letters MA. Below, two coats of arms, one of which bears the stylized ear of wheat, a customary figure belonging to the decorative repertoire of the Chini…
The Confraternity of Mercy of Borgo San Lorenzo, founded in 1847, inaugurated its new headquarters in 1904, designed by the engineer Niccolò Niccolai. The latter was also commissioned to design and direct the construction of a chapel next door, which was soon built and inaugurated on 19 July 1908. Un disegno progettuale della nuova sede della Misericordia, primo NovecentoFrom an architectural perspective, the oratory reflects the medievalist taste of the time: in the gabled facade built in concrete and fake squared stone, there is a lunette portal surmounted by a spire of hanging ogival arches, a large oculus with polychrome glass…
The construction and decoration of the Town Hall building was completed and inaugurated in 1931, thanks to the project collaboration between the council engineer Augusto Lorini and Tito Chini. The building shows a plain and linear architecture on the outside, but inside there are some original variations, not only on the superficial decoration, but also through the insertion of particular architectural elements.The first of these is the Great Staircase which connects the entrance-hall on the ground floor with the upper floor, and which occupies a cylindrical space, underlined by fluted columns which compose the handrail and the jambs. According to the testimony…
