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Since the pandemic we have had to make some changes to the way we offer things at the Centro. For those who have been our guests before, and for new guests, please see below for some notes to make sure your stay at Verrocchio runs smoothly. It is more like an art community now, with some shared tasks. We no longer have six staff engaged.
MEALS
We are now self catering, however
AUTHENITIC ITALIAN EVENING MEALS on the terrace or in the dining room can be arranged with Loredana who can come in and cook for your group.
Please contact the office for information
BREAKFASTS AND LUNCHES are up to you.
You can easily buy what you need in the local shops. There are two grocery shops in the village, a bakery and patisserie. Several plant based milk alternatives are available in the shops. There is a mini supermarket just outside the village opposite the swimming pool which has a bigger selection.
The shops are open 8am - 1pm and 4pm - 8pm with a half day for many on Wednesday.
For the first morning if you arrived late the day before and haven’t had a chance to shop, you could treat yourself to an Italian breakfast at the nearby bar.
There are also several bars and cafes where you can enjoy lunch or shop for what you need and eat it on the Verrocchio terrace. You can use the Verrocchio kitchen to prepare what you need.
DAILY TEA AND COFFEE
Verrocchio will provide English style tea (PG Tips or similar), herbal teas and instant coffee (as well as decaf) plus milk (cow's). If you require alternative milk you will find various types are all available in the local shops- soya, coconut, oat etc.
DAILY TASKS
Mostly, we no longer have live-in helpers to cover various daily chores, but sometimes we do. If there is a helper, their duties will be keeping the terrace swept, watering the plants and making sure everyone is OK. They are not there to do all the washing up!
For those times when we don’t have a host/helper staying and you would be up for watering the plants each morning and giving the terrace a regular sweep please let me know and we can give you €15 per day off your rent. Contact me on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Other daily tasks as below should be organised in the group
Group leaders: We recommend you make a rota to make sure the following jobs are done: (if there is no group leader Verrocchio Office can put you in touch with the other guests coming at the same time).
1. Putting kitchen bins out - there are collections of different types 5 days a week. There is a chart in the hall giving details. The bins are all separate for
Organico - compostable kitchen waste (and garden waste)
Mixed recycling - clean plastic pots and wrap, glass bottles (but not broken glass), clean tins/cans
Paper and cardboard
Indifferenziata - everything else!
The bins need to go out in the Piazzetta in the morning by about 9am.
2. Helping Loredana by laying the table, serving the food and clearing the plates plus clearing and washing up the final course and glasses at the end of the night. (Loredana will do the rest herself)
3. Make sure the kitchen is tidy before Loredana arrives to cook around 4pm on the evenings she has been engaged to cook.
Kitchen
Verrocchio will give the kitchen a deep clean before the start of each course as well as top up cleans during the course. However, as Verrocchio is now self-catering we do ask our guests to be responsible for their own washing up and keeping the kitchen surfaces clean. If you want to know how to work the dishwasher please ask or check the step by step instructions on the side of the machine.
Clothes Washing
There is a washing machine for guests’ use off the middle painting studio. Powder not supplied. Please wait till you have a full load! Clothes can be dried on the washing line on the terrace.
CHECK IN AND CHECK OUT
Check in: after 4pm
Check out: before 10.30am
Exceptions may be made by arrangement, however access to bedrooms before 4pm on arrival days or after 10.30am on departure days cannot be guaranteed as cleaners will need time to prepare the rooms between groups.
Luggage can be left in the hallway until rooms are ready.
ROOM KEYS
At the end of your stay please leave your room key in the door. Thank you! There are two keys on each ring. The smaller one is the front door key. The front door should be kept locked at all times.
AIRPORT TRANSFERS
Verrocchio is no longer able to arrange airport transfers. We suggest you google airport taxi services from Pisa airport or Firenze (Florence). Many of the suppliers have web sites in English on which you can choose the size of vehicle, number of seats you require and how much luggage space as well as giving you a fixed price. The price can be shared between all the passengers. If you are not part of a group we are happy to put you in touch with other guests arriving and departing the same day, so you can share transport.
OTHER POINTS
There are hairdryers, hair straighteners, hand and bath towels provided. We have a selection of coloured towels in the chest on the upstairs landing to take to the swimming pool. Please don’t use the white ones from the laundry for that. Half way through your stay (if it is longer than one week) your bed linen and towels will be changed. Please leave your key in the door on that day so that the housekeeper can change the bed.
There is WiFi throughout.
We hope you have a lovely stay! Please do get in touch if you have any queries.
Hannah
Contact me on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Download and print "Everyday Housekeeping Tasks" sheet to help organise your rota
by Nigel Konstam, published by Verrocchio Arts, ISBN 0-9523568-1-3
Purchase direct from Nigel Konstam by contacting him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
'Even if you are not into sculpture, or don't intend to be, here is a book well worth reading for its lively, knowledgeable and stimulating discussion on the nature of art and the way an artist's mind works, all set out with conviction and clarity... A well conceived and well illustrated volume with plenty of pictures, some in colour, both practical and inspirational.' Jonathan Stephenson, The Artist
'A most remarkable handbook for 3D students... marvellous chapters dealing in depth with imagination and creativity, structure and composition.' Joe Burns, The Cork Examiner
The main book (first published by Collins in 1984 and reprinted in 1994) has become a standard text for students and art lovers and is recommended by the Open University.
Two years ago the author, the distinguished sculptor Nigel Konstam, made a series of discoveries concerning Ancient Greek Sculptural methods that are destined to bring about a paradigm shift in our perception of the art of the classical period. Most important among these is the near certainty that life-size bronzes, including the famous Riace figures, were not derived from sculpted models, as was previously assumed, but from wax figures that were cast from life.
In a 35-page supplement to the third edition, Konstam gives a vivid account of these discoveries and the way he came upon them. Frustrated by the way that archaeologists' theories conflicted with his own experience as a foundryman, he designed a foundry set-up using technology that would have been available in 500 BC. Then, on a visit to Athens, he actually found the remains of an ancient furnace chimney of the type that he knew must have been involved. To his amazement, it turned out to be very much larger than he had envisioned, quite the equal of a nineteenth-century industrial chimney. The section that remains, 12 m long and 2 m in diameter, is illustrated in the book by colour photographs. The original must have been capable of melting sufficient bronze for the colossal statues that formed a part of the Acropolis decorations before it was sacked by the Persians in 470 BC.
This first-hand account of an astonishing series of ground-breaking discoveries will interest the layman as well as specialists in the field of archaeology and sculpture. Constant reference to techniques that are fully described in the main book, together with copious illustrations, make this complex subject easily understood. The shock of these revelations does not diminish the extraordinary achievement of the ancient Greek sculptors but adds a new dimension to our understanding of it.
Nigel Konstam's foundry discoveries were published in The Oxford Journal of Archaeology in May 2002.
A second Article was published in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology in the November 2004 issue on Life Casting.
"Barrocchio" Jack Cove's affectionate portrait of the Casole Bar we all know and love! You may recognise some of the familiar characters outside!
Veteran sculptor of over 60 years experience. Nigel Konstam is the owner and founder of the Verrocchio Art Centre and lives and works here all the year round. Now in his 80's but still a wonderful, humorous and patient teacher. He has inspired total novices to discover the joy of carving and modelling. He has had some incredibly talented students over the years that have discovered and developed their skills from beginners to highly accomplished sculptors here in Casole. Much in demand for commissioned work, you will thoroughly enjoy sculpting alongside Nigel on the sculpture terrace or in his refreshingly cool sculpture studio.
Nigel's courses run concurrently with the other art courses and can be taken for one or two weeks. See Programme/Courses for all the dates and prices of rooms/transfers and meals etc which vary according to length of stay and room choice etc. As Nigel lives here all the year round students are welcome to come for tuition at any time. However it is fun to come while other courses are on to enjoy the stimulation of the company of painting students and the convenience of airport transfers and Loredana's wonderful cooking - only available during the season May - Sept. Nigel charges €45 per day for individual tuition and for accommodation, meals and room prices contact Hannah on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Nigel studied sculpture, drawing and painting at Camberwell School of Art (1956-8) and has worked as a sculptor and teacher ever since. His book Sculpture: The Art and the Practice (Collins '84) was praised by the critics for its 'lively, knowledgeable and stimulating discussion on the nature of art and the way an artist's mind works ...marvellous chapters which deal in depth with imagination and creativity, structure and composition.' 'A most remarkable handbook.' (now available in paperback ISBN 0 9523568 0.5)
His art historical research, particularly into painters' use of mirrors is well known. These studies have led him to a new way of understanding visual imagination and therefore new methods of extending its range and power. Take this link to a site dedicated to Nigel Konstam's art historical research on Rembrandt Van Rijn. Nigel has a blog where all matters related to his philosophy of art and art history are discussed with new articles being added all the time.
Nigel Konstam's foundry discoveries were published in The Oxford Journal of Archaeology in May 2002. A second Article was published in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology in the November 2004 issue on 'Life Casting'.
Nigel has had a distinguished career which is fully documented in Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Konstam. The following is an extract from the text:
Konstam became an active sculptor and bronze-caster, in parallel forging a career to explore the history of art, specialising in tracing the development of Man's ability to understand what he sees. He lectured on art historical subjects at the major art colleges in Kingdom of Great Britain also at Harvard in the US and PINC[2] in the Netherlands.
Konstam was commissioned to make portraits of musicians including Otto Klemperer in 1982,[3] Hans Hotter, Manoug Parikian and John Ireland (composer). Showing at The Cadogan Contemporary Gallery[4] in London his carvings in alabaster are ordinarily on show or can been seen on request. He has drawings in the collection of The British Museum.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11] He chaired the Contemporary Portrait Society in London between 1975 and 1980.[12] In 2001 he exhibited in Pisa, in Florence in 2002 and Todi in 2011. In Spain he sculpted Portrait busts of Juan Carlos I of Spain and Queen Sofía of Spain.[13][14]
In Italy he set up and ran The Verrocchio Arts Centre[15] in Casole d'Elsa. Within the Centre is the Museo Konstam[16] a number of Konstam’s sculptures and drawings are displayed. Many of his larger works can be seen near La chiesa di San Niccolò and in the village of Casole d'Elsa. Also in the Museo Konstam resides The Research Centre for the True History of Art.[17][18]
The main exhibits in the museum are demonstrations of artists' use of mirrors (for example Rembrandt, Velasquez, Vermeer and Brunelleschi). Also featured is the Roman tradition in European Art, Greek Life-casting and Bronze Casting technique, and includes medieval Sienes sculpture and drawing artefacts. Konstam was an artist whose work was displayed in mixed exhibitions, and some solo ones in and around London though, notably, as far back as 1980, presented a major respective in Madrid with over 100 pieces on show followed by shows in Barcelona and Salamanca.[19][20] He has revealed evidence that some aspects of the history of art are mistaken and challenged orthodoxy on important turning points in art history; namely the classical phase in Greece, the start of the Renaissance and around 1630 which he claims is the start of the modern era.[21]
Latest edition of Nigel's book now available. See REVIEW.
Nigel Konstam's new web site: www.nigelkonstam.com
To emailThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Nancy GT, CA, USA
My husband came to the centre just to relax while I took a painting class. He had no intention of doing anything except reading and relaxing. However Nigel offered to show him how to carve and he made a carving and to this day he is so proud of it. He was amazed at what he was able to do.