Most interesting are the Macchiaioli ( from the verb macchiare , to blotch or stain ) school of Tuscan pre-Impressionists , who met at Florence 's Cafe Michelangelo in the 1860s seeking a new freedom from academic art that paralleled the political liberation of the Risorgimento .
They only met once in the first year of meeting , but then went on to meet every 4 weeks 5 years later .