Nestled in the foothills of the Apuan Alps, but just minutes from the historic center of Carrara, the village of Torano boasts a very ancient tradition of marble quarrying and processing.
The name is said to refer to the settlement’s Roman origins, and archaeological finds in the nearby quarries of Polvaccio, Poggio Domizio and Canalbianco confirm that these places were frequented since the classical age. Most link its name to the Latin “taurus” (bull), indicating a site for sheltering oxen used to transport marble, but Torano could also derive from the Celtic “thaur” (or “thor”) meaning mountain, or refer to the Etruscan goddess “Toran,” corresponding to the Greek Aphrodite.
Strategic, in any case, is the proximity to the famous mountains rich in Bardiglio (with its typical coloring between cerulean gray and bluish), the precious Calacatta, with its yellow-gold veins, to the famous Polvaccio Statuary, so dear to Michelangelo.
It is therefore no coincidence that, from these few houses clinging to the rock, some of the most celebrated sculptors of their time emerged, from Giuliano Finelli (1601-1653), who rivaled Bernini in Baroque portraiture, to Domenico Guidi (1625-1701), a pupil of Algardi and several times Director of the Academy of San Luca in Rome, and Pietro Tenerani (1789-1869), a disciple of Thorvaldsen and an absolute protagonist in the panorama of purist sculpture of the 19th century.
These artists, and many of their less fortunate colleagues, left at a young age for the great capitals of Italian sculpture (Rome and Naples above all), where they reaped success and honors, without ever returning to their homelands. At least one of them, however, wanted to leave a souvenir of his art in the church where he had been baptized: so it was that the parish church of Torano (Santa Maria Assunta), found itself welcoming a masterpiece of Roman Baroque in its most mature phase, Domenico Guidi’s Sant’Apollonia (1694). Framed by a beautiful, curving altar, the statue is still in place at the head of the left aisle and would alone be worth a visit to the village. Apollonia, holding with her arm the palm of martyrdom and the pincers of cruel torture, is depicted throwing herself on the flames, perhaps fearing to succumb to torture, with her gaze turned to heaven. The fine workmanship and refined drapery pattern encapsulate a highly inspired image, capable of communicating great spiritual strength without falling into patheticism.
Theentire Church of the Assumption is, on the other hand, of certain interest: the high altar, which rests on a richly inlaid antependium, is crowned in a rather original manner by a fresco (Madonna and Child between Saints John the Baptist and Andrew) painted in 1574 by Agostino Ghirlanda. The scene is elegantly tripartite by two column shafts, which divide the central niche with the Virgin from the figures of angels and saints (Anna and Joseph) that conclude the ensemble. Above is a frescoed lunette with a Lamentation over the Dead Christ rich in memories, formal and chromatic, of 16th-century Florentine painting .
Also deserving of more than one’s attention are the pulpit/confessional, rich in colored marble and embellished with fine carvings, with a figure ofSt. John the Evangelist (1782) by Giovanni Antonio Bertè of Turin (professor of sculpture at the Academy of Carrara), and the remarkable 18th-century marble crucifix on the altar that closes the right aisle .
Leaving the church by the side doorway (dated 1593), one can admire, in a lunette on the side of the building, another 16th-century fresco (Madonna and Child), while in the adjacent small square is a beautiful fountain, with a large marble basin, Cybo-Malaspina coat of arms and 17th-century inscription poetically recalling the wealth of water in the area. A little further on is a bas-relief (1466) with St. Bernardino within a densely ornamented niche, and the figure of the donor emerging among the friezes on the right .
Concluding the square, at the entrance to Via Taurina, is the oratory of the Santi Quattro Coronati: on the altar a marble altarpiece depicts the four martyrs, protectors of stonemasons, sculptors and masons, intent on working on various marble works.
Finally, at the edge of the town, on the road down to Carrara, there is a small oratory dedicated to theAnnunziata, with valuable sculptures and ornaments from the early 18th century.
The “Torano Night and Day” event, which has been enlivening the town’s summers for more than twenty-five years, is the best opportunity to discover the alleys, cellars, courtyards and most picturesque corners of the village, in routes enriched by art installations and craft exhibitions.