Scuola del Cuoio

What you will find

Scuola del Cuoio was founded after World War II through the collaborative efforts of the Franciscan friars of the Monastery of Santa Croce and the Gori and Casini families, Florentine leather artisans since the 1930’s. Their mission was to give orphans of the war a means to learn a practical trade with which to earn a living. Marcello Gori and Silvano Casini brought their master craftsmen to Scuola del Cuoio to teach these youngsters the leather craft trade. Santa Croce, with its strategic position along the banks of the Arno river, since the 13th century had been historically the area of the tanners. The tanned hides were used for centuries for the leather manufacturing of the city and at the Monastery itself to cover the great manuscripts. Post-war Scuola del Cuoio brought those traditions back to the Monastery. During the Renaissance, the Medici family donated this dormitory wing to the Francicans and commissioned architect Michelozzo for the project. The main corridor, with its vaulted ceiling and coats of arms of the Medici family over the doorways and mantle, and decorated with frescoes executed by the school of Domenico Ghirlandaio, was converted by the friars to host Scuola del Cuoio and its social project.

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