produttori — Volterra · Toscana
Within the medieval walls of Volterra, where stone is memory and light filters through alabaster like through no other material, a cooperative of master craftsmen has carried forward since 1895 an art that the Etruscans had already made their language.
On the workbench, blocks of alabaster drawn from the Volterra quarries await the master's hand. The Cooperativa Artieri dell'Alabastro (Alabaster Craftsmen's Cooperative), founded in 1895 as the Società Cooperativa Industriale Magazzino di lavori in alabastro (Industrial Cooperative Society and Warehouse for Alabaster Works), is today recognised as an Impresa storica d'Italia (Historic Business of Italy): a productive continuity spanning more than a century without ever breaking the chain of craftsmanship.
The hands that shape the stone carry forward ancient techniques, but they also bear a name chosen by Gabriele D'Annunzio: during his visit to Volterra in 1908, the poet called these craftsmen «Artieri», recognising in them something that went beyond mere manufacture. Today the cooperative funds scholarships for the local Scuola d'Arte (Art School), so that gesture is not lost.
On the workshop shelves, sculptures, lamps and furnishing pieces in alabaster stand alongside works born from commission, designed in collaboration with Italian designers. The same cooperative that became a forerunner of Art Déco now takes on bespoke commissions to create one-of-a-kind pieces: Volterra's luminous stone, in the hands of the Artieri, never stops renewing itself without betraying its own origin.
The page holds the details on the workshop, visiting options, training courses and the catalogue of works.
