Florence’s Mercato del Porcellino is so named for the hefty bronze boar that lounges beneath the arcades of the Renaissance loggia. Normally, it’s tourists who rub the pig’s now well-shined nose for good luck. But in these months, with a dearth of customers, it’s the leather sellers whose stalls lie just behind in the open market who need the animal’s fortune.
Carlo Lippi is a third-generation leather vendor. His stall was first set up in the Mercato del Porcellino by his grandfather, just after the war. But leather, one of Florence’s most famed products, has a much longer history. Thanks to the city’s location along the Arno river,
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