About us
An Encounter with the History and Art of Cortona

The refined traveller who passes by Via Nazionale, the liveliest street for meeting friends and taking a stroll, can’t help but be drawn to the soft music coming from an alleyway decorated with images of the “most ancient city of Italy” (Henry James).

In this alley, the voices of the busy Via Nazionale seem centuries of history away and the visitor finds himself crossing the threshold of the Gallery, in inspiring surroundings: immersed and wrapped in tender and pleasant melodies. He can contemplate upon the medieval ambiance uncovered two levels below the modern day street, tastefully returned to the light with its ancient aspect and functionality. One should not miss the unique well “ad ampolla” from which the Gallery “Il Pozzo” takes its name and in which there are traces of the ancient knowledge and architectural skill of the Etruscans ancestors’ civilization.

Here, nothing is left to happenstance and every wall, every nook and every shelf becomes a frame for an interesting detail, underlining the value of the artistic and artisan objects displayed. And in this way the attention and interest of the visitor is fed by being in contact with the variety of the paintings and photographs, the prints, books, engravings, the ceramics, in contact with the rich artisan crafts (leather covered books, hand crafted papers, jewels and objects in glass) which are an integral part of the history and customs of Tuscany.

The Gallery “Il Pozzo” can be summed up as an encounter between Cortona and the visitor: that said, it seems to correspond to the high level of historic and artistic tradition of the homeland of Signorelli, of Pietro Berrettini and of Gino Severini; everything here seems to court the taste and artistic sensibilities of the refined tourist of the new century.