Pietrasanta is a small charming town in the Tuscan region of Versilia, just a few miles from renowned beaches like Forte dei Marmi but also very close to the white marble quarries in the Alpi Apuane mountains. Its beauty and location explain why it has always attracted a cosmopolitan community of artists, especially sculptors who came here from all over the world to live and create. Gino Lucarini, also known as Ascanio, has been one of the protagonists of this community.

He founded the Fonderia Artistica Versiliese in Pietrasanta in 1975 and over the years he established an amazing network of collaborations with great international artists – including Botero, Pomodoro, Chia – who turned to him, and later to his sons Tiberio, Franco and Gabriele, to execute their bronze creations. The Fonderia Artistica Versiliese specialises in the ancient lost wax casting technique and its skilled craftsmen can process a wide selection of metals – bronze being the main one – and execute an endless variety of shapes, finishings and types of patina.