Introduction to Sculpture in Clay Class at The Florence Studio

About this tour

Spend three hours at a Florence studio learning to shape clay into recognisable human forms. You'll work through the fundamentals of facial and bodily proportions, develop a feel for the material, and pick up techniques for capturing anatomical detail. By the end you'll have created something with your own hands—and gained a sharper eye for the sculptures filling the city's galleries and streets.

Highlights

• Shape a human face or figure from raw clay
• Learn proportional systems used by Renaissance sculptors
• Handle and manipulate clay with growing confidence
• Study anatomical landmarks and their placement
• Create a finished piece to take home
• Access included tools, clay, and water throughout

What to expect

You'll arrive at the studio and receive a brief on proportion and anatomy—how distances between features relate to each other, where muscles sit beneath skin. Then you'll get your hands into clay and start building. The instructor will guide you through blocking out basic shapes before refining detail. Expect to make mistakes, adjust, and gradually see a recognisable form emerge. It's tactile, absorbing work; three hours moves quickly. You'll finish with something rough but unmistakably yours, and a tangible understanding of why those marble statues in the Uffizi work so well.

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