CNA - FROM THE GARDEN TO CREATION: DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF NATURE AND CREATE WITH YOUR OWN HANDS

Arrival and room assignment at Hotel President. Arrival in Pistoia at Piante Mati 1909 to discover the Mati Green Experience, a walk to discover the demonstrative, therapeutic and technological vegetable gardens and gardens of Mati 1909. During the visit guided by Francesco Mati, each guest will be able to choose and collect the natural material of their interest to use as an element for printing in the workshop experience scheduled for the following day at the headquarters of the Leonardo School of Art in Prato organized by President Cinzia Menichetti.

At the end of the visit, lunch at the Toscana Fair farmhouse restaurant with a 4-course seasonal tasting menu, drinks included.

In the afternoon guided tour of Pistoia. Return to Prato and dinner at a local restaurant. Overnight stay and breakfast at Hotel President.

Visit to the Leonardo Aps Art School Association which will welcome you to its headquarters on an immersive journey into the world of art: equipped laboratories for ceramics and porcelain, engraving, classrooms for experimenting with artistic techniques. The conspicuous heritage of the ultra-centenarian Leonardo will be opened to viewing: rare, elaborate texts and early works by the artists who

marked the history of art and restoration of the last century up to the present day. Last but not least, the plaster cast gallery, a jewel with extraordinary and unique casts of works from the Italian Renaissance. Among these are the panels of the Porta del Paradiso by Ghiberti of the Baptistery of Florence, created by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in 1932. The only copies cast before the recent restoration.

Experiential laboratory: in the engraving classroom, a specialized teacher will accompany the composition and printing of a bag in natural fibre, one or more plant elements previously chosen and collected by the participants at the Mati nurseries in Pistoia, a sample of leaves, flowers, twigs they can be imprinted on the fabric, inking bright or soft colors as personal sensitivity wants to move the rollers. A sensory experience that will remain in the memory. The monogram of the participants' name will complete the bag as a unique and unrepeatable souvenir. At the end of the workshop, light lunch at the Leonardo Aps Art School Association. In the afternoon free visit of the city of Prato (possibility of a guided tour on request)