Take A Stroll Through The Quinto Martini Park Museum

In the town of Carmignano there is a large public park called the Quinto Martini Park Museum that displays an exceptional and beautiful range of bronze sculptures by the Italian artist, Quinto Martini, which were made between 1931 and 1988.

This lovely outdoor space acts as both a park and open-air museum and is free for anyone to visit. It is the perfect place to spend a little while wandering around, taking in the artworks and getting some fresh air. It is a million miles away from the long lines and stuffier atmosphere of many museums throughout the region and is a little more unique.

Any art lovers planning a trip to Tuscany should find a luxury villa in Carmignano and make time to experience this distinctive art installation for themselves.

Quinto Martini was born in 1908 in Seano, near Florence to a farming family. He showed early interest and ability in art before he even knew what it was and was largely self-taught.

He first exhibited in February 1927 at the show, “Il Selvaggio”, alongside artists like Mino Maccari, Carlo Carrà, Ottone Rosai, Giorgio Morandi and Achille Lega. Martini first became a fixture of the Florentine art and intellectual scenes and then became involved with the artists of Turin before returning permanently to Florence where he began to focus on sculpture, the medium that would earn him the most praise.

Not content merely with dedicating himself to visual art, he also become an important fixture of the literary scene producing two novels, stories and poetry.

When the Carmignano City Council asked Quinto Martini for a sculpture to embellish the town square of Seano, the artist declined in favour of a more ambitious plan. Martini, instead, donated a large number of sculptures to the town, on condition that they be inserted in a "suitable space" to allow for the “enjoyment of all”. This museum park is decorated with 36 bronze sculptures (cast from works created by the artist from 1931 to 1988), with spaces set aside for children's play activities and for the public to convene. Many of the artist's most treasured works such as the girl seizing a goose, the mother with child and the seated innkeeper awaiting his customers are on display in the park. It was inaugurated in 1988 while the artist was still alive to see his plan come to fruition.

Located in the picturesque natural setting of the hills of Carmignano, in a green open space crossed by a stream in the southern part of the village, this has to be one of the best museums in all of Tuscany.