Anchise Picchi started as a sculptor, in 1925. When still young he joined with Alvio Vaglini, a Pisan sculptor who became his best friend. Later he moved to Collesalvetti ( Livorno ), where he started up his new atelier. During the troops' retreat, in the Second World War, 1944, his studio was totally destroyed and all his material stolen. This traumatized the young artist and he abandoned sculpture, but increased his painting activity. Immediately after the period in Leghorn , that is in 1980, the author started sculpting again, carrying out a series of bronze, walnut, ceramic and gilded chalk sculptures. Some of these are shown here. As one can immediately see, the classic laying of sculptures enriches a twentieth-century mood which was totally free of “… Realist frivolities, and, at the same time, conforms to ancient models without transforming itself in ornamental arabesque, until achieving a very evocative harmony…” (from: Anchise Picchi tra Simbolismo e Novecento, by Francesca Cagianelli – ed. Bandecchi&Vivaldi, Pontedera, Pisa, 2004)