Roberto Ugolini è un vero artigiano fiorentino delle scarpe su misura. Cresciuto tra le botteghe del centro è oggi un vero genio calzolaio

There size and the wealth of Florence in the Middle Ages, until the end of the Renaissance, and even beyond, it was created above all by the corporations of arts and crafts to which, for centuries, the most important families of the city belonged, including the Medici.

The ancient Florentine guilds of arts and crafts

In other words, the greatness and wealth of Florence (but also of many other centers in Tuscany) created it the artisans, in the broad sense of the term, because at the time the category included not only manual workers (including, until Renaissance, Also the artists) but also other professional figures such as, for example, bankers, money changers, judges, lawyers, notaries.

If over time the arts corporations And professions they have lost strength to the point of disappearing, the artisan's profession which still positively characterizes the image of our region has not lost any strength at all.

What does craftsmanship mean?

But we must first understand what we mean by craftsman. Artisan, nowadays, can be considered not only someone who makes something with his own hands, like an engraver, a goldsmith, a straw weaver, a carpenter or a ceramist, but anyone who through his daily work, his energy, his passion, manages a business that does not have industrial connotations but that proposes unique products of their kind, or characterized by naturalness or eco-sustainability, such as a small winery, a perfumer, a fashion atelier, a manufacturer of handmade shoes, and so on.

Typical Tuscan craftsman

I am therefore craftsmanship not only the ceramics of Montelupo, the terracotta of Impruneta, the green glass of Empoli, the crystal of the Val d'Elsa, the pietra serena of Mugello, the marble of Carrara, the alabaster of Volterra, the cigar of the Valtiberina or the wrought iron of Casentino together with the characteristic cloth, but also the "Fattoria La Maliosa", of Antonella Manuli, which in collaboration with   Professor Corino he created a beautiful wine and olive oil company.

He is a craftsman of wine quality Ugo BingThe master perfumer is a craftsman Silenus Cheloni, as well as the Aloe Bros of Pizzeria Berberé, with their love for slow pizza and craft beers, precisely. He's an artisan Leonardo Manetti, the winegrower poet of Greve, as well as Marco Corradini, of China Gambacciani or Gaia Mecocci, from the Dona Malina chocolate and ice cream shop in Florence.

I am all craftsmen because they bet on themselves, on their abilities, and with an instant decision they transformed their lives and the world around them.