The New York Times – From Michelangelo to Gina Lollobrigida and Beyond, an Artistic Culture Thrives in Tuscany Pietrasanta, in the Tuscan region of Italy, has become an international sculpture hub that bursts with activity, especially in summer.

By Farah Nayeri
May 12, 2026

Michelangelo was fussy about the marble that he used in his sculptures and architectural projects: He personally supervised the individual blocks of marble as they were being extracted from the quarries.

When he was commissioned by Pope Leo X in 1518 to build the facade of the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence, Michelangelo decided not to get the marble from Carrara in northern Italy (where the stone for masterpieces including “David” came from). Instead, he sourced it from new quarries that he helped establish in the hills around the neighboring Tuscan town of Pietrasanta. Like a modern-day project manager, he watched the quarry workers extract and cut massive blocks of stone. He even designed roads that allowed the marble blocks to be transported from the mountains down to the coast.

Today, Pietrasanta is an international sculpture hub, with a rich network of workshops, foundries and craftspeople that serve artists from all over the world. In the spring and summer, the town of 20,000 turns into a popular meeting place for artists and art professionals.

To promote Pietrasanta internationally and make it not just a seasonal attraction, but an art center all year round, the local authorities have set up a dedicated foundation: Fondazione Centro Arti Visive di Pietrasanta.

“Pietrasanta is not on the international art circuit: It’s a place that is on the periphery,” said Nicola Lattanzi, a professor at IMT School for Advanced Studies in Lucca, Italy, who has run the foundation for the last year. “Yet so many famous artists have come through Pietrasanta, spent time here, and allowed this town of 20,000 inhabitants to create a small ecosystem that I believe is unique in the world.”

Lattanzi said the role of his foundation was to be “a facilitator” that not only oversees the cultural activities that took place in Pietrasanta from May to September, but also built bridges and alliances with the international art world the rest of the year, with help from artists who made and exhibited work in the Tuscan town.

One sculptor who is taking advantage of the local ecosystem is the Armenian-born sculptor Mikayel Ohanjanyan. He was one of the artists who exhibited work in the Armenian Pavilion at the 2015 Venice Art Biennale; the pavilion went on to win the Golden Lion for best national participation.

He is currently exhibiting in Pietrasanta: Seven of his gray basalt sculptures are on display in a project space inside a branch of a local bank, BVLG — Banca Versilia Lunigiana e Garfagnana. (…)

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