Quinto Martini (1908–1990) was an Italian artist and writer, born in Seano,

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

Training

He was a self-taught artist, born in a farming family and raised among the hills behind

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

's land. Martini was discovered by the artist Ardengo Soffici in 1926, when he went to visit Soffici's workshop in Poggio a Caiano, close to Seano, where the latter retired to paint the nature and traditional Tuscan farmers' world. Looking at the young Martini's first experiments, the maestro Soffici recognised the kind of genuine and intimate traits he valued in traditional Italian art. Quinto Martini was then taught drawing and art techniques, and exposed to art and literature with Soffici as his patron and mentor. In Soffici's library, Quinto Martini studied the French Impressionists and other modern artists: Cézanne,

Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French people, French Impressionism, Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, Print ...

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

and the

cubists Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

, as well as Italian artists such as

Giorgio Morandi Giorgio Morandi (July 20, 1890 – June 18, 1964) was an Italian painter and printmaker widely known for his subtly muted still-life paintings of ceramic vessels, flowers, and landscapes—their quiet, meditative quality reflecting the artist's ...

Armando Spadini Armando Spadini (1883–1925) was an Italian painter and one of the representatives of the so-called Scuola Romana. Biography Armando Spadini, the son of a craftsman and a seamstress from Poggio a Caiano, was born in Florence on 29 July 1883. ...

, and the

futurists Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futures studies or futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities ...

. In

Prato Prato ( ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') in Tuscany, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Prato. The city lies in the northeast of Tuscany, at an elevation of , at the foot of Monte Retaia (the last peak in the Calvana ch ...

, the closest city to his hometown, Quinto Martini joined a group of workers, intellectuals, and artists spontaneously formed in 1925. Among those artists were Oscar Gallo,

Leonetto Tintori Leonetto Tintori (1908 - 2000) was an artist (painter and sculptor) in varied media, who pursued various prominent restorations of Renaissance paintings, including frescoes. He was born in Prato, region of Tuscany, Italy Italy, officially ...

, Gino Brogi, and Arrigo Del Rigo. Almost all of them studied at the "Leonardo" Art School of Prato, and were inspired by Ardengo Soffici and by the movement "Il Selvaggio". In February 1927, still under the aegis of Soffici, Martini was invited to participate in the collective exhibition ''il Selvaggio'', together with

Mino Maccari Mino Maccari (24 November 1898 – 16 June 1989) was an Italian painter. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1948 Summer Olympics. Maccari was one of the founders of the political magazine '' Il Selvaggio'', whi ...

Carlo Carrà Carlo Carrà (; February 11, 1881 – April 13, 1966) was an Italian painter and a leading figure of the Futurist movement that flourished in Italy during the beginning of the 20th century. In addition to his many paintings, he wrote a number ...

, Ottone Rosai,

Achille Lega Achille Lega (21 April 1899 – 28 January 1934) was an Italian painter. His early work was in the Futurism, futurist style and he later became a Cubism, cubist. Lega was born in Brisighella but lived in Florence from the age of ten. He first st ...

, Pio Semenghini, Nicola Galante and Evaristo Boncinelli. He later published in the same review ''il Selvaggio'' etchings and drawings, entering the

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

artists' and intellectuals' world. Between 1928 and 1929 Quinto Martini went to

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

for military service, where he moved in bohemian cafés and cultural circles enlivened by a Parisian

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

atmosphere. There Martini met

Felice Casorati Felice Casorati (4 December 1883 – 1 March 1963) was an Italian painter, sculptor, and printmaker. The paintings for which he is most noted include figure compositions, portraits and still lifes, which are often distinguished by unusual ...

Cesare Pavese Cesare Pavese ( ; ; 9 September 1908 – 27 August 1950) was an Italian novelist, poet, short story writer, translator, literary critic, and essayist. He is often referred to as one of the most influential Italian writers of his time. Early ...

and "The Six Painters" group, who were typical interpreters of an anti-fascist and communist-oriented culture inspired by the French Cézanne and Manet. In Turin the young artist encountered the intellectual

Carlo Levi Carlo Levi () (29 November 1902 – 4 January 1975) was an Italian painter, writer, activist, Independent Left (Italy), independent leftist politician, and doctor. He is best known for his book ''Christ Stopped at Eboli (novel), Cristo si è fe ...

who would be, together with Soffici, one of the fundamental interlocutors of his life. After a period of military service in Turin, in the early 1930s he started working on the "Mendicanti" series which he investigated again and again throughout his whole life production. Martini's

mendicant A mendicant (from , "begging") is one who practices mendicancy, relying chiefly or exclusively on alms to survive. In principle, Mendicant orders, mendicant religious orders own little property, either individually or collectively, and in many i ...

s are painted in a realistic manner, where their poverty is described through poverty of tools, and the figures are symbolically lengthened and bent to the earth. The sculptures of Quinto Martini were also inspired by the Etruscan style, which was deeply rooted in his area where there are important Etruscan archeological sites. In 1935 Martini relocated from the Tuscan countryside to Florence, where he died in 1990.

Quinto Martini as sculptor and mature artist

Across the 1930s and '40s, the artist's attention shifted progressively to sculpture. He used simple and "poor"

terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...

, a material typical of his rural environment which was already common in the Seano area when the

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization ( ) was an ancient civilization created by the Etruscans, a people who inhabited Etruria in List of ancient peoples of Italy, ancient Italy, with a common language and culture, and formed a federation of city-states. Af ...

settled and expressed their culture millenniums before. Terracotta was like the mud from which Martini had moulded animal figures as a child, playing in the farm yard. One terracotta sculpture was "la ragazza seanese", which was unveiled at the XIX

Biennale di Venezia The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Architecture Biennale (), which are held in alternating ye ...

in 1934. From that moment on, Quinto Martini gained the appreciation of the critics and the public. From 1935 onward, Quinto Martini was present in all editions of the

Quadriennale di Roma The Rome Quadriennale (Italian: La Q''uadriennale di Roma'', also called in English the ''Rome Quadrennial'') is the Italian national institution entrusted with the task of researching about and promoting Italian contemporary art. It is a found ...

until the 1972–73 edition. At the 1939 edition, an entire salon was dedicated to his sculptures alone. In the same year, the artist published some of his etchings in the review ''Frontespizio'' which was gathering together the most relevant contemporary artists from Ottone Rosai to

, from

Giacomo Manzù Giacomo Manzoni (22 December 1908 – 17 January 1991), known professionally as Giacomo Manzù, was an Italian sculptor. Biography Manzù was born in Bergamo. His father was a shoemaker and sacristan. Other than a few evening art classes ...

Fiorenzo Tomea Fiorenzo Tomea (7 February 1910 – 16 November 1960) was an Italian painter. Biography Tomea was born in Zoppè di Cadore, Italy. He studied at the Cignaroli Academy in Verona, where he met Giacomo Manzù and Renato Birolli, in the period 1 ...

, and also important writers like

Mario Luzi Mario Luzi (20 October 1914 – 28 February 2005) was an Italian poet. Biography Early life and education Born in Castello, near Sesto Fiorentino, Luzi's parents, Ciro Luzi and Margherita Papini, hailed from Samprugnano (later Semproniano). ...

and

Carlo Bo Carlo Bo (25 January 1911 – 21 July 2001) was an Italian poet, literary critic, distinguished humanist, professor and senator for life from 1984. Biography Bo was born on January 25, 1911, in Sestri Levante, Italy. From 1929 to 1934, he a ...

. Quinto Martini participated in the XXth

edition, where his work was appreciated by the important Italian critic Giuseppe Marchiori. The review ''Domus'' published an interview with him, and he was the protagonist of some exhibitions in Florence,

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, and Rome at the "Quadriennale d'arte nazionale". In the same years, the artist will continue publishing drawings and etchings in the cultural reviews ''il Selvaggio'', ''Frontespizio'' of the writer and politician

Piero Bargellini Piero Francesco Bargellini (5 August 1897 – 28 February 1980) was an Italian politician, writer and journalist, who served as mayor of Florence (1968–1969), Senator (1968–1972) and Deputy (1972–1976). Biography In 1929 Bargellini founde ...

, and in the art and literature review ''l'Orto'' from

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

. The "Mendicanti" series, some of which were displayed at the "Lyceum" in Florence in 1943, were considered to be against the regime warlike propaganda. Quinto Martini was jailed shortly after the exhibition, together with

, in the same prison where his brother had been kept for almost fifteen years. Once released, the artist went into hiding in the

Chianti Chianti is an Italian red wine produced in the Chianti (region), Chianti region of central Tuscan wine, Tuscany, principally from the Sangiovese grape. It was historically associated with a squat bottle enclosed in a straw basket, called a ''fia ...

countryside to avoid being captured by the Nazis. In that period he wrote the novel ''I giorni sono lunghi'' (The Days Are Long) to render that experience memorable, which was published in 1957 with a preface from Levi himself. Intimate reflections expressed in verses, opened Martini's road to poetry. Across the '50s and '60s, Quinto Martini published some tales and poems for the "Nuovo Corriere" of

, while many more remain still unpublished. In 1974, his second novel ''Chi ha paura va alla guerra'' is printed in

Catanzaro Catanzaro (; or ; ), also known as the "City of the two Seas" (), is an Italian city of 86,183 inhabitants (2020), the capital of the Calabria region and of its province and the second most populated comune of the region, behind Reggio Calabr ...

for the Frama's Publisher edited by Pasquino Crupi, where Quinto Martini tells the story of a deserter during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. With clear inspiration and sound form of expression, the artist animated the "Nuovo Umanesimo" art group with Ugo Capocchini,

Emanuele Cavalli Emanuele Cavalli (1904–1981) was an Italian painter belonging to the modern movement of the Scuola Romana (Roman School). He was also a renowned photographer, who experimented with new techniques since the 1930s. Biography The son of Apulian la ...

, Giovanni Colacicchi, Oscar Gallo, and Onofrio Martinelli in 1947. Their "manifesto" announced their opposition to any concept of abstract art. Late in the 1940s Martini's sculptures won some first prizes at the national level, and early in the 1950s they started to be exposed abroad. Quinto Martini's paintings turned into a mature revision of Ardengo Soffici's style, and experimentation of some of the 20th-century artistic currents including

cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

and

futurism Futurism ( ) was an Art movement, artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such as the ...

. Quinto Martini paid particular attention to "Portraits" and to "the Rain" theme. The artist exercised portraiture since his first sculpture experiences, portraying relatives, friends, and peasants of his homeland. Many portraits were made in

plaster cast A plaster cast is a copy made in plaster of another 3-dimensional form. The original from which the cast is taken may be a sculpture, building, a face, a pregnant belly, a fossil or other remains such as fresh or fossilised footprints – ...

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

of his mother, Ardengo Soffici, his wife Maria Ferri, often shown at important exhibitions. "Portraits" of artists, scholars, intellectuals, were made by Quinto Martini from the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

until his death, in a sort of continuous dialogue with them that lasted for decades and at times with repeated portraits across the years. In 1992, two years after the artist's death, 30 of these "Portraits" were exposed in an exhibition hosted at

Palazzo Strozzi Palazzo Strozzi is a palace in Florence, Italy. It is located in the historic centre between the homonymous Via Strozzi and Piazza Strozzi, and Via Tornabuoni. History The construction of the palace was begun in 1489 by Benedetto da Maiano, ...

in Florence, to realize a project that the artist imagined in 1984. The disastrous inundation of Florence of 1966 intensified the inspiration of Quinto Martini for "the Rain" theme, expressed through drawings and bas-reliefs, but also through operas in bronze. The poets and intellectuals

, Renzo Federici, Tommaso Paloscia,

, many of whom were subjects of the "Portraits" themselves, wrote about these operas hosted again in

in 1978. He was a professor of sculpture at the

Accademia di Belle Arti This is a list of the tertiary-level schools or academies of fine art in Italy that are recognised by the Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca, the Italian ministry of higher education. Accademie di Belle Arti The of ...

in Florence from 1961 across the 1960s and 1970s. During the same years, the artist continued in his experimentation, developing the "Rain" theme and participating in exhibitions at the national and international level like the ''International Small Bronze Competition''. Some of his small bronzes were exhibited at the "Contemporary Italian Sculptors" exhibition in 1970, which went on world tour (Florence,

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Milan,

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro,

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, Tokyo,

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

Hakone is a List of towns in Japan, town in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had a population of 10,965, and total area of . Hakone is a notable spa town and a popular tourist destination due to its many onsen, hot springs being within view of ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, and locations in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

). Quinto Martini lectured in many conferences and symposia, and wrote a number of essays on the sculpture of

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), known mononymously as Donatello (; ), was an Italian Renaissance sculpture, Italian sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sc ...

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...

, and others. Personal and anthologizing exhibitions have been widely shown in the 1970s and '80s. Some of his most notable works were inspired by

Dante's Dante's is a nightclub and live music venue in Portland, Oregon. The venue, located along West Burnside Street and owned by Frank Faillace, hosts a variety of acts ranging from burlesque to rock music. Dante's is housed in an unreinforced mason ...

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poetry, narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of ...

'', and he himself has been described as "an important fixture in the cultural and artistic life of 20th-century Florence." The artist dedicated to Dante's masterpiece a complete set of lithographs which toured in Rome, at the

Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze The National Central Library of Florence (, BNCF) is a public national library in Florence, the largest in Italy and one of the most important in Europe. It is one of the two central libraries of Italy, along with the . History The library was f ...

, and also in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and five different cities in the former

U.S.S.R. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...

Three books were published on this series of Martini.

Places named for him

The Parco museo Quinto Martini was dedicated to the artist by his authorities and his countrymen in Seano in 1988, while Martini was still alive, and displays 36 of his bronzes which were made throughout his all artistic life, placed in an open air setting. The project of the Park is presented in the following publication: , 1981. The Municipality of Carmignano has instituted the ''Parco museo Quinto Martini Prize'', aimed at emphasizing ideas and projects that are inspired by or intended to combine art and public spaces. In 2011, the first edition of the Prize went to the degree thesis of Ilaria Burzi, for her project titled: ''Former mine of Santa Barbara: contribution to the restoration project''. The second Prize went to the thesis of Federica Cavallin for the project: ''Innovation and tradition. A project for the visual identity of the Passante Verde of Mestre''. The first edition of the Prize has been published: Premio Parco museo Quinto Martini. Un esempio d'arte nello spazio pubblico, Comune di Carmignano, Edizioni Masso delle Fate, 2012.

References

Bibliography in Italian

*Quinto Martini. 30 ritratti. Scrittori e artisti 1948–1986, Catalogo, a cura di Marco Fagioli, della mostra tenuta a Firenze, Palazzo Strozzi, 1992, Florence, Polistampa, 1992. *Quinto Martini. (1908–1990), , 1994. *Quinto Martini. *, 1996. *Colloquio col visibile. Fermenti artistici nella Firenze del dopoguerra, Catalogo della mostra tenuta a Monsummano Terme, Villa Renatico-Martini, 1996–1997. *, 1997. *Quinto Martini. 1908–1990, Catalogo, a cura di Marco Fagioli e Lucia Minunno, della mostra antologica tenuta a Firenze, Museo Marino Marini, 1999. Florence, Studio Per Edizioni Scelte, 1999. *Quinto Martini. Arte e impegno civile, Catalogo della mostra tenuta nel 2000–2001, prima a Firenze, Villa Vogel-Capponi, poi a Follonica (Grosseto), Civica Pinacoteca A. Modigliani. Saggi di Marco Fagioli, Anna Mazzanti, Lucia Minunno. Florence, Edizioni Polistampa, 2000. *Quinto Martini fra arte e letteratura, Atti della giornata di studio promossa dal Comune di Carmignano il 24 marzo 2001, a cura di Francesco Guerrieri. *Quinto Martini, Poesie a colori, a cura di S. Albisani e T. Bigazzi, Florence, 2002. *Quinto Martini. Pittore e scultore, Catalogo della mostra a cura di M. Fagioli, Florence, 2004. *Quinto Martini. Omaggio a Dante. Bassorilievi, pitture, disegni, litografie, catalogo della mostra a cura di L. Martini e T. Bigazzi Martini, Florence, 2006. *Quinto Martini ad Arezzo, Daniela Meli, Arezzo. Florence, AIÓN Edizioni, 2008. *Quinto Martini. I bronzetti, catalogo della mostra a cura di Lucia Minunno, Florence, AIÓN Edizioni, 2010. *Quinto Martini, Testimone della storia, a cura di Stefano De Rosa, Florence, NICOMP L.E. Edizioni, 2011. *Quinto Martini, Museo statale Ermitage San Pietroburgo, a cura di Consuelo de Gara, Florence, Mandragora, 2013.

External links

Parco museo Quinto Martini
official website, in Italian language.
Parco Museo Quinto Martini
from the official website of the Archeological Park of the Municipality of

Carmignano Carmignano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Prato, part of the Italian region Tuscany. It is located about west of Florence and about southwest of Prato. It is the centre of the wine region of the same name. It has 14,577 ...

, in Italian language.
Parco museo Quinto Martini
from the province of Prato official website, in Italian language.

from the official website of the museum circuit within the province of Prato, in Italian language.

from the official website of the Tuscany Region for the promotion of tourism, in Italian language. * Quinto Martini in the Italian Wikipedia. {{DEFAULTSORT:Martini, Quinto 1908 births 1990 deaths 20th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 20th-century Italian sculptors 20th-century Italian male artists Italian male sculptors Italian anti-fascists People from Carmignano