The Matrinalia project
To kick off the complete refurbishment and reopening of the city’s public toilets – made possible thanks to funding from the Ministry of Tourism – the City of Florence has decided to invest in the visitor experience and its facilities, which, as well as being functional, must be worthy of a city of art.
Hence the Matrinalia project, conceived and implemented by the Arteteca Cultural Association, which was awarded the public tender; this made it possible to identify and make available spaces, buildings and surfaces to the creativity of recognised urban artists.
All the works of art created are linked to the context in which the facility is situated, whether that be the figure who inspired the street’s name, or the building or neighbourhood of the city in which we find ourselves, and are, of course, available for everyone to enjoy.
The toilet facilities are therefore not only new and necessary, but also of high artistic merit.
What is the result? An unusual itinerary, which combines an essential city service with artistic discovery, and which offers a genuine experience for users, whether residents or tourists.
We are therefore pleased to present the 14 public toilets/artwork venues, arranged according to a criterion of coherence within the urban landscape:
Oltrarno: piazza Santo Spirito and via dello Sprone on the East side, Giardino delle Rose, San Salvatore al Monte and viale Galilei on the West side
Green spaces along the Arno river: piazzale Kennedy and viale della Catena in the Cascine Park (East side); lungarno Pecori Giraldi on the West side.
Right bank of the Arno river: San Lorenzo district with piazza Santa Maria Novella, Mercato Centrale and via della Stufa.
Santa Croce District / Sant'Ambrogio with via Filippina, piazza Ghiberti and piazza dei Ciompi.
In each of these public toilets, works of art are on display, described – along with the artist’s name – at the various stops along this route: discover them all.
The word ‘Matrinalia’ combines ‘latrinalia’ – that is, writings and drawings in public toilets – with ‘matronalia’, which in antiquity were fertility festivals reserved for women. The project therefore promotes classical values through contemporary forms of expression and draws on a vast wealth of knowledge, stories and anecdotes – primarily of a feminine nature – adapting them for each toilet and in keeping with its name, through the works of the selected artists. The project is curated by Luca Borriello, director of INWARD – National Observatory on Urban Creativity – who is also the author of the project and its individual concepts.
Comune di Firenze
Useful information
tutti i servizi pubblici sono accessibili
The places
Stages
Public Toilet - Parco delle Cascine, Viale Kennedy (piazzale del Re) - Temporarily closed
Public Toilet - Parco delle Cascine, Viale Kennedy - Temporarily closed
The Matrinalia project transforms Florence’s public toilets into a unique urban art trail. 14 spaces, 30 artworks and 26 artists tell stories, figures and themes connected to women’s culture and memory through the languages of contemporary creativity.
Parco delle Cascine – Kennedy hosts three interventions celebrating nature and Florentine identity.
Fabio Petani presents an artistic herbarium featuring nine local tree species, pyrographed onto wooden panels and incorporated into the bathroom shutters.
Inside, a second work by Fabio Petani depicts the iris, a flower closely connected to Florence’s history and identity.
Yarn Bombing Trivento decorates a tree at the entrance with a red-and-black crochet installation, paying tribute to Stendhal and his famous novel The Red and the Black.
Public Toilet - Piazzale delle Cascine, Viale della Catena - Temporarily closed
The Matrinalia project transforms Florence’s public toilets into a unique urban art trail. 14 spaces, 30 artworks and 26 artists tell stories, figures and themes connected to women’s culture and memory through the languages of contemporary creativity.
Parco delle Cascine – Catena hosts three interventions exploring nature, memory and creativity.
Fabio Petani presents an artistic herbarium featuring nine local tree species, pyrographed onto wooden panels and incorporated into the bathroom shutters.
Inside, a second work by Fabio Petani depicts a cherry tree, inspired by Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard and the history of changing ownership of the Parco delle Cascine.
Yarn Bombing Trivento decorates the trees at the entrance with colourful crochet interventions, transforming the trunks into original textile artworks.
Public Toilet - Piazzale delle Cascine, Viale della Catena
Public Toilet - Lungarno Pecori Giraldi - Gardens
The Matrinalia project transforms Florence’s public toilets into a unique urban art trail. 14 spaces, 30 artworks and 26 artists tell stories, figures and themes connected to women’s culture and memory through the languages of contemporary creativity.
Giardini del Lungarno Pecori Giraldi hosts an intervention by Sardomuto dedicated to the fauna of the Arno River.
The bathroom module is painted with large depictions of chub, lampreys and other native fish, appearing and disappearing through the doors and windows.
The artwork highlights the gradual decline of the Arno’s native fish population.
In front of the bathroom, a fishing net replaces the basketball hoop net, recalling traditional fishing techniques once used along the river.
Public toilet for tourists - Lungarno Pecori Giraldi
Public Toilet - Piazza Santo Spirito
The Matrinalia project transforms Florence’s public toilets into a unique urban art trail. 14 spaces, 30 artworks and 26 artists tell stories, figures and themes connected to women’s culture and memory through the languages of contemporary creativity.
Three artworks in the Santo Spirito public bathroom explore themes of family, identity, women’s freedom and faith.
Viola Gesmundo celebrates the diversity of family structures through a joyful collective scene, accompanied by fabric dolls inspired by its characters.
Roxy in the Box presents a video installation inspired by Artemisia Gentileschi and the struggle of women against discrimination and patriarchal structures.
Truly Design creates an anamorphic artwork inspired by the Holy Spirit and the ideas of Pavel Florensky, fully revealed only from the correct viewpoint.
Public toilet - Piazza Santo Spirito - Closed for renovation work
Public Toilet - Via dello Sprone
The Matrinalia project transforms Florence’s public toilets into a unique urban art trail. 14 spaces, 30 artworks and 26 artists tell stories, figures and themes connected to women’s culture and memory through the languages of contemporary creativity.
Via dello Sprone hosts an artwork by Nico Löpez Bruchi and a permanent creative workshop.
The artwork depicts a boy riding a horse that carries him towards the outside, creating a visual play on the meaning of “sprone” and the desire to explore the world.
The creative workshop, inspired by Arno Stern’s closlieu, invites children and adults to freely express themselves through drawing and painting, without judgement or predefined rules.
Public toiltet for tourists -Via dello Sprone
Public toilet - Giardino delle Rose
The Matrinalia project transforms Florence’s public toilets into a unique urban art trail. 14 spaces, 30 artworks and 26 artists tell stories, figures and themes connected to women’s culture and memory through the languages of contemporary creativity.
Giardino delle Rose hosts two outdoor installations inspired by roses and poetry.
TomoZ transforms the letter “R” into a rose-shaped sculpture, reinterpreting the language of wildstyle writing and paying tribute to the garden’s collection of roses.
Francesco Terzago turns a children’s capsule-toy dispenser into an original poetry dispenser, offering short botanical poems as a poetic “rosary” to discover.
Public toilets for tourists - Inside Giardino delle Rose
Public Toilet - Porte Sante, San Miniato al Monte
The Matrinalia project transforms Florence’s public toilets into a unique urban art trail. 14 spaces, 30 artworks and 26 artists tell stories, figures and themes connected to women’s culture and memory through the languages of contemporary creativity.
San Salvatore al Monte – San Miniato hosts a project by Stella Tasca featuring twelve artworks inspired by the zodiac signs and their four elements: fire, earth, air and water.
Twelve female faces reinterpret the ancient goddesses associated with the zodiac signs, each wearing a vermilion-coloured mask.
Vermilion, linked to the name of San Miniato and to the tradition of medieval illuminated manuscripts, becomes a symbol of transformation, identity and revelation.
Through these female figures, the artist reinterprets a colour historically associated with male power, turning it into an image of strength and connection.
Public toilet for tourists - Porte Sante, San Miniato al Monte
Public toilet - Viale Galilei
The Matrinalia project transforms Florence’s public toilets into a unique urban art trail. 14 spaces, 30 artworks and 26 artists tell stories, figures and themes connected to women’s culture and memory through the languages of contemporary creativity.
Viale Galileo hosts three artworks exploring the universe, science and the theme of perception.
Corn79 depicts Jupiter’s four satellites through a geometric, optical-style artwork set against deep space.
Pongo uses 3D techniques to portray planets and stars, bringing the Earth into focus and inviting visitors to reflect on the illusions of perception.
Teatro transforms a telescope into a kaleidoscope: by rotating it, visitors can discover ever-changing shapes inspired by the Platonic solids and dedicated to Hypatia.
Public toilet - Viale Galilei, close to piazzale Michelangelo
Public Toilet - Piazza Santa Maria Novella
The Matrinalia project transforms Florence’s public toilets into a unique urban art trail. 14 spaces, 30 artworks and 26 artists tell stories, figures and themes connected to women’s culture and memory through the languages of contemporary creativity.
The Santa Maria Novella public toilet features three artworks inspired by Dominican tradition, herbs, and the themes of ritual and transition. Crisa transforms the threshold into a botanical herbarium painted on the tiles; Kiki Skipi depicts an all-female “first supper”, featuring wild edible herbs and references to the Decameron; Dem creates a mask inspired by the Dominican habit and Marian symbolism.
Public toilet – Piazza Santa Maria Novella, at the Fratellanza Militare – Tourist public facilities
Public Toilet - Via della Stufa
The Matrinalia project transforms Florence’s public toilets into a unique urban art trail. 14 spaces, 30 artworks and 26 artists tell stories, figures and themes connected to women’s culture and memory through the languages of contemporary creativity.
The Via della Stufa public toilet features two artworks dedicated to the theme of purification. Ciredz celebrates water as an element of wellbeing and ritual, creating an immersive environment enhanced by a vapor effect. Basik presents a triptych representing the purification of body, mind and spirit through symbolic gestures and essential forms.
Public toilet – Via della Stufa
Changing table for children available
Public toilet – inside the Mercato Centrale- Via dell'Ariento
The Matrinalia project transforms Florence’s public toilets into a unique urban art trail. 14 spaces, 30 artworks and 26 artists tell stories, figures and themes connected to women’s culture and memory through the languages of contemporary creativity.
The Ariento public toilet features two artworks dedicated to female symbolism, mythology and the connection with silver. Rosmunda represents the three phases of the moon through female deities, evoking magic and the cyclical nature of the world. Coquelicot Mafille depicts Acca Larentia, the mythological figure who nursed Romulus and Remus, surrounded by stars representing her many children and evoking the connection with silver, a tribute to the area’s artisan tradition.
Public toilet – Mercato Centrale, Via dell'Ariento
Public Toilet - Via Filippina
The Matrinalia project transforms Florence’s public toilets into a unique urban art trail. 14 spaces, 30 artworks and 26 artists tell stories, figures and themes connected to women’s culture and memory through the languages of contemporary creativity.
The Via Filippina public toilet features four artworks dedicated to San Filippo Neri and the themes of coexistence and inclusion. Neve creates a playful portrait of the saint, accompanied by fragments of incense; Vittorio Valiante depicts a sixteenth-century scene of boys and girls playing together; Cref reinterprets the ancient epitaph of the Otto family, creating an ironic reference to the prohibition against “making a mess”; Trallallà portrays two voluptuous Roman matrons, inspired by the unconventional female figures celebrated by the artist.
Public toilet – Tourist public facilities
Public Toilet for tourists
Public Toilet - Piazza dei Ciompi
The Matrinalia project transforms Florence’s public toilets into a unique urban art trail. 14 spaces, 30 artworks and 26 artists tell stories, figures and themes connected to women’s culture and memory through the languages of contemporary creativity.
The Piazza dei Ciompi public toilet, located in the Giardino del Gratta, features two artworks. Guerrilla Spam represents the Ciompi Revolt through games and game boards, transforming playing pieces and game lines into a metaphor for social conflict. Teatro creates an installation inspired by the Gratta circus and the figure of the Romanina, with references to gender freedom and LGBTQ+ history in Florence.
Public toilet – Tourist public facilities – Piazza dei Ciompi
Public Toilet - Piazza Ghiberti - Sant'Ambrogio Market
The Matrinalia project transforms Florence’s public toilets into a unique urban art trail. 14 spaces, 30 artworks and 26 artists tell stories, figures and themes connected to women’s culture and memory through the languages of contemporary creativity.
The Sant’Ambrogio public toilet features two artworks inspired by Saint Verdiana and the nearby market. Refreshink depicts a scene of a woman giving fruit and vegetables to another woman, combining historical references with contemporary produce. Teatro creates a light installation featuring two glass vipers, inspired by an episode from the saint’s life and activated by visitors as they pass by.
Public toilet – Tourist public facilities
