Tell us about you and your company.
I was raised between Rome and New York City, and for as long as I can remember the precarious future of artisanship has been a prevalent topic of conversation in Italy. Now more than ever, artisans struggle to remain competitive in an economic landscape that favors scalability over quality, and utility over artistry. Convinced that opportunities still existed for master artisans to flourish in the global marketplace, I launched L’Arte Nascosta in January of 2020 to build a bridge between the workshops of Master Artisans in Italy and patrons from the U.S. and around the world.
What became clear to me was that the supply-side of the equation was well covered. Despite alarming statistics that attest to the decline in Italian artisanship in recent decades, there is still an abundance of artisans all over Italy. The demand-side is what needed our attention; not for a lack of interest, but because of a simple information gap: many luxury consumers are interested in artisan-made goods and works of art, but don’t know how or where to find them. Education has become a central theme of our practice; we share our artisans’ stories, the techniques of their crafts and the historic and cultural contexts they operate in. As our role as researchers, curators, mediators, and educators came into focus, it was a very natural progression for my long-time friend, Francesco Soldi, and I to team up to offer custom immersive travel experiences in Tuscany—to further involve L’Arte Nascosta’s community of patrons and connoisseurs in this dynamic, but oftentimes overlooked, world. After all, l’arte nascosta means “the hidden art” in Italian, and it’s our job to help our community discover it!
We’re based between NYC and Florence, and in addition to producing handmade, bespoke artisanal heirlooms, we curate and host travel experiences in Tuscany through our travel service called AION by L’Arte Nascosta.
What’s the entry level to talk to you?
Since our experiences are tailor-made for each booking, our prices vary from one experience to the other. Full-day excursions that include a morning tour in Florence’s city center with museum and artisan visits, lunch and an afternoon wine tasting in the countryside usually cost about $2500 for a couple. For single-day excursions, we ask for a non-refundable $100 consultation fee, which is deducted from the total price of the experience. For more extended, multiple-day experiences, we similarly ask for a $500 deposit.
What is the sweet spot of your expertise?
The primary focus of our research (in the artisanal commissions we facilitate and the custom tours we curate) is centered on Renaissance and Medieval art, architecture and history.
Rather than share a laundry list of locations and works of art on our tours, we synthesize our research to illustrate specific themes that are relatable to a contemporary visitor and animate Florence’s 2,000-year history while providing context for the ancient crafts that our Artisan Partners practice to this day.
While it is impossible to cover the breadth of Florentine history in just a few hours, or even in a few days, our goal is to provide a first taste that will leave our guests inspired to discover more – be it through research of their own, or even on a future tour with us!
A favorite experience/trip/itinerary you’ve planned that best represents your philosophy…
Last April, we had a special opportunity to partner with our friends at The Armoury, a menswear brand based in NYC and Hong Kong, to curate a 3-day retreat for a group of their clients. What we devised was an immersive experience called “The Maker’s Retreat,” through which our guests had the opportunity to meet and interact directly with various makers between Florence, the Tuscan countryside and Perugia.
The afternoons were spent visiting villas, drinking wine, and tasting olive oil, while mornings were spent in some of our Artisan Partners’ workshops, where our guests saw firsthand that the many specialized techniques employed to produce precious jacquard fabrics, stone marquetry mosaics, or even jewelry have hardly changed at all since the Renaissance.
A favorite hotel/lodge/house you love and go back to again and again…
The Portrait Hotel and Sina Villa Medici in Florence. Both places always feel like a home-away-from-home. The Portrait for their ability to accommodate any preference their guests might have; and Sina Villa Medici for that uniquely Italian flavor of hospitality that the General Manager, Fernando Pane, and his staff manage to convey as soon as you enter the hotel.
The most memorable meal you’ve had while traveling…
Last winter, my good friend and Artisan Partner of L’Arte Nascosta, Alessandro Penko, introduced me to a restaurant tucked away in the Tuscan countryside about 30 minutes from Florence. It’s called “La Fattoria,” or “The Farm,” and I couldn’t imagine a more fitting name. It’s a prime example of what I like to call function-based dining.
The owners and their staff show up every day to cook and serve their guests. The guests show up to eat and have a good time. That’s it. No branding concepts, no experimental dining, no fluff. Just good, traditional, hardy Tuscan fare and a palpable sense of passion and pride that emanates from the vast wood burning griglia, where they prepare their Florentine steaks.
It’s a bare-bones restaurant where the food takes center stage. My favorite part? A dollop of lemon-and sage-flavored sorbet that was served in ceramic cups between our appetizer of fried vegetables and our Florentine steak main course… Totally unexpected, and just enough to gently clean the palate before we tucked into our steaks – all the proof I needed to attest to the cook’s love of his craft.
A not-to-be-missed favorite experience in your region(s) of expertise…
Tuscany offers such an abundance of unique and enriching experiences that it’s nearly impossible to pick a favorite, but if I were to choose just one it would be the hands-on experiences we organize in our Artisan Partners’ workshops. Whether hand-binding a journal, mixing custom perfume, or even minting a Florin coin under the guidance of Master Goldsmiths in Paolo Penko’s bottega, our “Artisan for a Day” experiences offer guests the opportunity to try their hand at the highly specialized crafts that our collective of artisans have mastered.
Plus, what better souvenir is there than one you’ve made yourself!?
What is a place we should consider traveling to that could really use our dollars, and what is a place we should put on hold because, even though we love it, it sees too many tourists?
Small-scale, family-owned makers!!! Whether artisan workshops or small farms, there is a wealth of small-scale businesses throughout Tuscany that go perfectly unnoticed by most visitors, simply because they are located off the beaten path. They are Tuscany’s best-kept secrets and are certainly worth the extra legwork (and possibly car time) to discover.
While I wouldn’t suggest putting it on hold, Florence’s city center certainly does see a tremendous influx of tourists every year. The crowds can be overwhelming, and if not appropriately planned for might even detract from the enjoyment of your visit. To avoid this problem, we encourage our guests to go beyond the obvious.
For example, while a visit to the Uffizi gallery is an art lover’s “must” despite the crowds, why not counterbalance that with a visit to one of Florence’s less famous museums, such as the Horne Museum, which conserves a priceless collection of 16th Century artwork displayed in such a way that is consistent with an aristocrat’s home of the same period? Best of all… no crowds!
Underrated location, overrated location, personal favorite, recent discovery?
Tourism in Florence is such a well-oiled machine that it might be difficult to imagine that any stone has been left unturned; however, the truth is that large-scale tourism companies tend to reduce their offering to the most famous museums and destinations. As a result, minor museums such as Palazzo Davanzati are oftentimes totally overlooked. As it happens, Palazzo Davanzati is actually one of my favorite museums in Florence – located in a palazzo constructed in the 14th Century by a banker-merchant family, the museum presents a collection of furniture and everyday material goods that effectively convey what the private life of a wealthy family would have been like in medieval Florence. To visit the Palazzo Davanzati Museum is to encounter pre-Renaissance Florence firsthand: arguably the most exciting period of Florentine history as it laid the foundation upon which the Renaissance was built about a century later.
I couldn’t possibly say that even the most visited museums in Florence are actually “overrated.” The priceless works that are conserved in the Uffizi Galleries do warrant a visit, as does Michelangelo’s David in the Accademia Gallery. What is overrated, though, is the checklist approach to travel that has unfortunately become so popular among tourists in recent years. Set your camera and phone aside, and don’t worry about visiting every historic location that Florence is famous for. Rather, focus your energy on truly connecting with the few places you do visit; immerse yourself in the history, extrapolate themes that pertain to your life and your personal experience… I promise that, in this way, your time spent traveling will be more relaxing and – most of all – more fulfilling!
A recent discovery that I’m very much looking forward to offering through AION is a local artist that specializes in painting frescoes. He has mastered the traditional techniques of the craft, and even offers immersive experiences during which guests paint a fresco of their own, which they can take home with them as a souvenir!
What is something you wished we all knew or were better at as travelers?
Less is more! I tend to agree with my grandfather who would often claim that not even several lifetimes would be sufficient to truly know Italy and all its nooks and crannies. It’s an incredibly rich country whose history (which spans millennia) and culture, which has been enriched by influences from all over the world, have something to offer to everyone. With such an abundance of choice, your best bet is to narrow your filter. Stay in one city for two weeks, visit the local market, get to know the barista at the nearby bar, buy the morning paper from the local edicola. Connect with the locals!
You won’t get a taste for all of Italy this way, but you will certainly lay the foundation for a lasting connection to the place you choose to visit. Whether Rome, Naples, Catania or Florence, it will always be there waiting to welcome you again like an old friend whenever you choose to return!
How do you want people to reach out to you?
Feel free to discover more about L’Arte Nascosta and AION through our website. And please don’t hesitate to connect with me directly by sending a DM through our instagram, @lartenascosta or @aion.tours.
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