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Unbranded leather pieces and hand tools on a worktable beneath brick vaults.

Scuola del Cuoio

Florence's leatherworking school grew from a postwar training mission into a family-led institution with a continuing educational programme.

A postwar school for a practical trade

Scuola del Cuoio traces its beginnings to a collaboration between Santa Croce's Franciscan friars and the Gori and Casini leatherworking families, with a practical trade as its purpose for war orphans. Scuola del Cuoio was founded in 1950 by Marcello Gori and Silvano Casini.1,2,3,4

Workbenches in a monastery corridor

The school set up its first benches in a former dormitory corridor of the Santa Croce monastery. It links the setting to Michelozzo and the school of Ghirlandaio, giving the workshop story an architectural context as well as a vocational one.1,2

Learning leather by working it

The early curriculum, as the school recounts it, began with recognizing different leathers and learning to cut by hand before making leather goods. Some students also learned to gild leather with 22-carat gold leaf, a specialized technique within that teaching history.1,2

Sources and citations (6)
  1. Our History
  2. La nostra storia
  3. Family
  4. Famiglia Gori
  5. Professional Courses
  6. Workshops

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