Giuditta Brozzetti Workshop Museum

Since 1621, Giuditta Brozzetti Weaving Workshop has been located in the ancient and picturesque setting of the San Francesco delle Donne Church.

Today, fourth-generation weaver Marta Cucchia, great-granddaughter of the founder, creates decorative artistic fabrics inspired by Italian, especially Umbrian, Medieval and Renaissance textile traditions.

Marta Cucchia grew up surrounded by splendid damasks and huge 19th-century looms, breathing the smell of linen, cotton, silk and ancient wood. Nevertheless, it was only after she finished her studies in Milan at the IED as an Interior Designer that she approached for the first time manual weaving and fell in love with this practice. She is the creator of an eclectic line of textiles for Home Decoration characterized by stylistic combinations and unconventional colors.

This Workshop has a unique characteristic: each fabric is made by hand using 18th-century pedal looms and 19th-century Jacquard looms. Jacquard looms are used to weave fabrics adorned with designs inspired by both Etruscan textiles (visible on Etruscan tombs and ceramics decoration) and by the so-called “Tovaglie perugine”, (Perugian Tablecloths), altar cloths used in churches in Central Italy at the end of the 12th century. Their importance as liturgical decoration is seen in the paintings of some of the greatest 14th and 15th century artists, such as Simone Martini, Pietro Lorenzetti, Giotto, Ghirlandaio and Leonardo da Vinci. The simpler pedal looms are used to make pieces decorated with geometric patterns inspired by the technique of rural Umbrian women. The story of the Atelier is also extraordinary. Four women have preserved and enriched its precious artistic and historical heritage for four generations. In 1995, Marta Cucchia started running the Workshop together with her mother, Clara Baldelli Bombelli (Giuditta’s niece), and decided to transfer it to the decommissioned church of San Francesco della Donne. This magnificent 13th-century church was the first Franciscan settlement in Perugia and one of the oldest in Italy.

This beautiful location, enriched with 18th and 19th century looms, became a Museum Workshop in 2004. Today it is possible to visit the atelier and observe Marta Cucchia at work. Visitors may participate in her weaving workshops and buy exquisite cushions, curtains, table runners and fabrics made by hand using a centuries-old technique.