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The Sani family members have always been carpenters in Montefiridolfi. The first document that testifies the activity of these artisans are papers from the Fabbrica Farm and a bill, dated 1847 for some repairs.
The family has other documents, from 1934 to 1943, which give proof of a series of activities related to carpentry.
For example, there are repairs to fixtures in both farmhouses and villas as well as industrial supplies. An example is the supplying of wooden poles for a plow and a workshop specialized in the construction of agricultural equipment.
There is also the supplying of wooden crates for mineral water from the Canciulle water source, as well as commerce in Wood.
Among their clients were the Corsini family and then the Count Vittorio Piatti from the Pozzo di Fabbrica, the marquis Antinori at Santa Maria Macerata and the marquis Rosselli del Turco in Montefiridolfi. Over the final decades of the last century, the shop also worked for Queen Beatrice of Holland who has a residence in the area.
Simone, since he was young, increased his knowledge of carpentry to the world of wood restoring and bringing antiques back to life. He was helpful in restoring the interiors of the Pitti Palace and the Uffizi.
Consider that in one of the most well known and admired places in the world like the Piazza of the Uffizi, you can see the work which was completed, together with his brother Gabriele, in their shop.
We are talking about seven of the larger doors (two on the Georgofili Side and five on the side of the ticket office) which face the famous portico.
Together with the superintendence, one of the doors from the 700s was used as a model. Those majestic pieces, built in the mid 1990s in Montefiridolfi, are easily distinguished from the others which were hurriedly built with boards after the 1966 flood and are still awaiting their turn to be substituted.
With the great satisfaction of the artisan, they were able to reconstruct the Tabernacle containing the Madonna and Child and Saints in Via Lambertesca.
This prestigious stand was torn apart by the mafia explosion near via dei Georgofili. The painting was also damaged. In their shop, with much patience, the Sanis were able to reassemble the pieces (some only splinters) of the destroyed tabernacle, while the painting was restored by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure.
Everything was ready for the inauguration of the reconstruction of via dei Georgofili with the presence of the president of the Republic, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro.
Other of their prestigious restorations was done in Florence at the Torre degli Importuni (today the hotel degli Orafi in Lungarno Archibugieri) and Palazzo Guadagni Strozzi Sacrati (Seat of the president of the Tuscan region in Piazza Del Duomo), in Lucca at the Ducal Palace and in Verona at the Civic Library.
In addition to his passion for work, Simone loves beautiful music which in his spare time he has constantly practiced and studied. His instrument is the transverse flute.
Presently he plays in the Giuseppe Verdi Philharmonic in Panzano and in the Rossini Philharmonic of Florence.
With the “Rossini”, he played in the Salone dei Cinquecento in the Palazzo Vecchio in November of 2015, in the presence of important authorities, among which the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella.
While he still maintains his restoration workshop, since last December, he has inaugurated a new activity, thus crowning his experience. In his new antique shop in via Palazzuolo 58/r in Florence, he displays antiques for art lovers.
Simone’s talent surpasses wood restoring and spreads to other beautiful and original fields.
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