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"Florence, Yesterday," Group Exhibition of Engravings in the Plaster Cast Gallery at the Porta Romana Art School

On Thursday, May 14, 2026, at 5:30 PM, an exhibition of 34 engraved works created by students enrolled in the undergraduate and graduate programs at the Università dell'Età Libera (U.E.L.) of the Municipality of Florence will open in the laboratories of the Graphic Arts Section of the art school. The exhibition will be open until May 21, 2026.

These include original copperplate engravings, etchings, and aquatints, soft varnishes, mixed techniques, sealing wax, and gumprint processes, illustrating places, palaces, alleys, and religious buildings of a Florence that has changed over the years, losing those characteristic aspects of 19th-century Florentine style: from the Torrino del Maglio to the Ponte Leopoldo, from the Maria Antonia Station to the Fabbrica dell'Acqua, from the Oratory of Santa Maria Vergine al Ponte to the Alhambra Theater, from the Arco dei Pizzicotti to the Tivoli Amusement Park, and many others.

The Art Printmaking Course (Da. Z) is taught by Professor Roberto Nannicini. Participants in the Short Courses (engraving & printing), promoted by the high school, also contributed to the exhibition. These courses have attracted interest and participation for two years, including in other workshops within the school. The works are by Alessandra Ceccarelli, Alessandro Borracchini, Beatrice Parigi, Antonio Magnelli, Barbara Fontana, Brunella Fontani, Carla Fusi, Clarissa La Viola, Cristina Bazolli, Cristina Moretti, Daniela Carbone, Elsa Mencarini, Franco Bini, Franca Cini, Ilenia Girella, Ilona Maier, Jennifer Giachi, Laura Felici, Maria Chiara Cecconi, Maria Donatella Pieraccini, Massimo Tassinari, Mauro Antonelli, Paola Sardone, Patrizia Gabellini, Patrizia Riitano, Roberta Bandinelli, Roberto Nannicini, Sabine Blomqvist, Salvatore Pagliarello, Sergio Pratesi, Stefano Milazzo, Tamara Valkama, Tiziana Bucci, and Ursula Giachi. The group has been working consistently for years, achieving high technical levels not only in traditional intaglio processes but also in the broad field of "experimental techniques," approached through the use of eco-sustainable and non-toxic methods, capable of producing graphic effects of great visual impact. In recent years, printmaking methodology has shifted away from traditional supports such as zinc and copper, opening up to the exploration of alternative materials such as Plexiglass, tin, PVC, rubber, and Tetra Pak matrices, significantly expanding the expressive possibilities. Even those who have only recently approached particularly complex activities have done so with passionate dedication, developing their own interpretative vision and achieving very encouraging results. The vernissage will be attended by Professor Roberto Nannicini, Professor of the Printmaking and Printmaking & Engraving courses, Dr. Laura Lozzi, Head of the Porta Romana Art School in Florence and Sesto Fiorentino, Dr. Valeria Bruni, Art Historian, the Hon. Carlo Carli, President of the National Association of Essia, Maestro Manuel Ortega, Head of the Armadillo Atelier Engraving Workshop, and Professor Giovanni Maccari, Professor of Italian Literature and History. Each work is accompanied by a description panel, which, in addition to the name of the artist and the technique used, contextualizes the subject through a short caption.

The UEL and Short Courses are open to anyone over the age of eighteen. Many of them come from art schools or have already taken specific courses over the years. However, even those approaching art for the first time, with proper guidance, can achieve encouraging results in a field that is both challenging and highly evocative and intriguing.

For more information: https://www.artisticofirenze.edu.it