Banci Firenze was born in 1899 and got its name from the founder, Giuseppe Banci. First they had a shop and then a workshop for restoring chandeliers made of glass, crystal or iron. The activity of Banci and the way they worked was unique. Especially the way in which they worked with materials, it is still today as it was in the past. The neighbourhood of Santo Spirito in Florence, on the left side of the Arno, was the center of these shops and workshops of crafsmen. Nowadays, we can find here and there their traces but they are becoming fewer each year. The handcraft of Florence, in particularly the forge of the iron, has laong traditions and is well known all over the world. The origins are in the Medieval age with the "Cooperative of the artists and craftsmen". Thanks to this Cooperative, the city of Florence became a big economic force and was the center where facmous artists and craftsmen met each other. In Florence the cooperative of the blacksmiths was the most important and rich during the Medieval age and the Renaissance. In their laboratories they learn to forge the iron as in a shop of an artist they learn to paint. (Giovanna Banci, Tesi di Laurea in Architettura 05/12/2002)