Montelupo Fiorentino, a small town in the plane between Florence and Empoli, rose during the wars that saw Pistoia and Florence antagonists between the end of 1100 and the beginning of 1200. With a reciprocal agreement, the two cities built the castle which took the name that it still maintains.
The farmers who arrived in the new dwelling centre from the countryside had to create their won financial means of sustenance. Natural resources were scarce: wood, earth and the river Arno which, in coincidence with its overflows, left a soil rich with clayey material. And it was precisely the abundant quantity of clay that favoured the creation of ceramic workshops, using wood reserve to build the tools to remove the material.
Speaking of Montelupo ceramics we cannot not mention the "Arlecchini", the decorative trend which, for three centuries, has characterised the production of Montelupo majolica. The Arlecchini, in the renaissance period, have storied on the ceramics, with immediacy and simplicity, the popular relaity of everyday life. This particular production is subdivided, indicatively, in three periods: between the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 18th.
In every age a pictorial direction affirmed itself, although the main theme of the painting as "reportage" of every day occurrences remained principal: scenes of popular life and battles, but also the financial crisis and the plague which hit, in those years, the Montelupo population. The Arlecchini are considered true works of art, sought after by collectors and pride of museums in the whole world.
The tradition of the ceramics working has lasted till our times, and t has become a well-radicated reality also owing to the creation of the Consorzio Ceramica di Montelupo which associates nearly one fourth of the producing companies in the area; as well as the industrial production there is also an artistic one which leaves room for the names of craftsmen known the world over. A training agency was also formed teaching the art of ceramics.
Every year the Festa Internazionale della Ceramica is held: demonstrations and working techniques for majolica, exhibitions of international artists and events to celebrate the ancient tradition that ties Montelupo to ceramics. In the Museo Archeologico e della Ceramica local handiwork is kept, that was found during the town’s diggings.
Montelupo Fiorentino Municipality (In Italian)
Consorzio Ceramica di Montelupo
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