Umbria
Umbria, the green heart of Italy, is the land that time and tourism forgot. Shaped by geography and politics, the region became a thriving model of creative self-sufficiency. Focusing on nature rather than commerce, Umbrians had to learn to grow their own food, make their own textiles, and create their own art. That spirit continues today. In this incubator for creativity, the old methods have become woven into the region’s identity. From fancy lace-makers in Orvieto to potters in Deruta; from a thousand-year-old gristmill to a Leonardo da Vinci-designed weaving loom; through olive groves and truffle forests, techniques and traditions get lovingly passed from generation to generation. In an age of industry and modernization, Umbria’s artisans remain steadfast and passionate about what they do. There’s a deceptive simplicity of life here that leads to surprisingly complex and beautiful results. Umbria – once isolated – is now ready for the world to take notice.
Truffle Hunters
When it comes to artisanal foods, fresh truffles are culinary gold. Umbrians have harvested the elusive fungi for at least 600 years. Saverio Bianconi learned truffle hunting from his father, and eventually turned it into the family business. Saverio and his wife Gabriella started Tartufi Biancono in 1990. Today, Saverio and Gabriella are teaching the next generation, their two sons Andrea and Maurizio, how to hunt for truffles. And they also incorporate the family dogs!
Check out Tartufi Bianconi’s Website
Wood Sculptors
Donatella, Gaia, and Simonetta are the daughters of Gualverio Michelangeli who was a successful wood sculptor in Orvieto. When Gualverio passed, the women carried on his style of sculpting by layering wooden shapes to build whimsical creations. Their creativity along with their detailed artisanal skills make their wood sculptures one of a kind.
Ceramics
Hand-painted ceramics is L’Antica Deruta’s specialty as it has been since 1950. That’s when Alviero Moretti started the company as a small atelier manually working with clay on a wheel using techniques dating back to the 15th and 16th century. The shop, now owned by the 4th generation, Giorgio and Camilla Morretti, follows Deruta’s ceramic tradition, keeping the tradition alive. Their boldly colored, intricately painted designs are what separates Deruta’s world-renowned majolica pottery from other types of ceramics.
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Textiles
Giuditta Brozzetti founded The Giuditta Brozzetti Workshop in 1921. It is now run by her great-granddaughter Marta Cucchia. Today Marta and her apprentice run one of the last hand-weaving studios in Italy, where they create gorgeous textiles on original working looms from the 18th and 19th centuries. It’s up to Marta and a shrinking number of her colleagues to preserve Perugia’s medieval weaving culture for future generations.
Learn more about Marta Cucchia
Wine and Olive Oil
I Girasoli di Sant’Andrea, the famous company founded by the Gritti family, uses their Umbrian valleys to produce olive oil and wine. The climate in Umbria creates the perfect fertile soil, which is what motivated Ursula Gritti and her husband to start the business. For the olive oil, instead of using heat or chemicals, their team grinds olives by hand, making sure friction doesn’t cause the oil to lose flavor. For wines, I Girasoli di Sant’Andrea also likes to experiment with their own homegrown recipes. Ursula’s children, Andrea and Pilar, joined the company to continue their father’s dream after he passed away in 2006.
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