Art Residency with Romolo Del Deo

This May our friend and internationally acclaimed sculptor Romolo Del Deo invite to Villa Casone d’Arte to reside and work within the private estate of master sculptor, set amid the historic hills of Tuscany overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea. The seventeen-hectare property traces its origins to 778 AD, with the present villa reconstructed in 1678. In the 1960s, the artist Rosario Murabito transformed the estate into a unified work of art for the Contessa Ottolenghi, integrating sculpture, architecture, and landscape.

In 2024, Tatiana and Romolo Del Deo undertook a careful restoration of the villa as an artist’s home, devoted to art, beauty, and la dolce vita. You are now invited to experience this inspiration firsthand. This seven-day sculptural immersion is conceived as a residency rather than a course. Participants engage in five sessions of direct wax sculpting, following methods employed by Italian masters since the Renaissance.

It is best suited to individuals with curiosity about artistic process and a desire to explore their creativity in an idyllic setting. Each participant will complete an original sculptural work prepared for the lost-wax bronze casting process. Those wishing to continue may apply to a subsequent program dedicated to bronze casting from their work. Instruction is led personally by Romolo Del Deo and combines demonstration, guided creating, and individual critique within the working atelier of the villa.

The Method
Direct wax sculpting is the practice of working the material immediately to create original works intended for bronze casting.
The technique dates back to the Bronze Age and reached exceptional refinement during the Renaissance, most notably in the hands of masters such as Giambologna and Benvenuto Cellini. Enduring examples of this mastery can be seen today in Florence’s Loggia dei Lanzi. As it did for these artists, sculpting directly in wax offers contemporary practitioners a lightweight, responsive, and highly adaptable material through which fluid ideas can be explored in three dimensions.
The Residency is designed to provide participants with the knowledge and guidance to create their own waxes, capable of being cast into bronze, and for those who wish to do so, an introduction to that process as well.

La Dolce Vita at Villa Casone D’Arte
Villa Casone D’Arte is a sanctuary for focused creative work, where an artist’s studio is embraced by the timeless beauty of a centuries-old Tuscan villa and its cascading terraces of ancient olive groves. Set within one of Tuscany’s most distinguished cultural landscapes, it lies at the heart of a region renowned for its artistic legacy and vibrant international community. Beyond the studio, life unfolds in the spirit of la dolce vita. Days are shaped by sculpting, by the luminous atmosphere of Casoli, and by visits to the celebrated ateliers and foundries of nearby Pietrasanta, where major works are created for museums and collections worldwide. Excursions to UNESCO World Heritage sites, including Pisa, offer encounters with the birthplace of Renaissance art, modern science, and humanist thought.
Here, art stands at the center of every experience, and each moment is infused with intention, refinement, and culture. The rhythm is distinctly Italian: mornings begin with gentle stretching and a continental breakfast, followed by work in the studio; lunch is taken al fresco on the grand terrace, in conversation and reflection. After a restorative pause, afternoons invite curated discoveries or personal exploration. Evenings open with aperitivi as the sun sinks toward the golden Tyrrhenian Sea. Each day unfolds as a revelation of beauty and inspiration.

About the Artist

Romolo Del Deo is an artist and master sculptor whose work engages the enduring methodologies of the ancient past to create what he defines as Long Art, sculpture conceived for permanence, resilience, and cultural continuity. He is the founder of the Long Art Movement, which forms the conceptual foundation of his artistic and teaching practice. Del Deo received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and completed his formal training at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze alongside advanced study in the studios of master sculptors in both the United States and Italy.

His work has been exhibited internationally in more than one hundred featured gallery exhibitions across four continents, and realized in public monuments and museum collections worldwide. He is the recipient of numerous major awards, including honors from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Henry Moore Foundation, the Florence Biennale (Medici Gold Medal), and multiple grants from the Sumner Bird Foundation.

An internationally respected educator, Del Deo has served on the faculty of Harvard University, the London Academy of Art, the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, and the Truro Center for the Arts. His teaching has been recognized with the Harvard–Danforth Award for Excellence in Education and the President’s Award for Contributions to the Arts. He is the founder and director of Studio Romolo Atelier.

To request further information, you could contact Romolo and Tatiana directly by email info@deldeofoundation.org