Conference

Conference – 5 December 2025
Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli – Florence
In collaboration with Università degli Studi di Firenze – SAGAS
With the support of the Direzione Generale Educazione, Ricerca e Istituti Culturali

 

The Fondazione Franco Zeffirelli will host the conference “The Florentine School of Theatrical Costume” on 5 December 2025, a full day dedicated to one of the most significant traditions in Italian stage culture.

 

Curated by Maria Alberti, Caterina d’Amico and Renzo Guardenti, the conference explores the extraordinary flourishing of florentine costume designers who, over the last century, have made Florence an international hub of excellence in costume design for theatre, opera and cinema. This unique phenomenon has grown out of a fertile cultural environment made up of art schools, academies, workshops of exceptional craftsmanship and a constellation of artists whose talent, research and creativity have shaped an unmistakable identity.

 

By bringing together scholars, professionals and direct witnesses, the conference aims to investigate the cultural conditions that encouraged the rise of so many remarkable costume designers, examining their styles, approaches, influences and differences. It also seeks to stimulate academic research in a field that, despite increased interest in fashion and dress history, remains relatively underexplored.

 

The entire event will be streamed live on YouTube (@FondazioneZeffirelli) on the official channel of the Fondazione.

 

Morning Session: https://youtube.com/live/qQjxQ_Bt1Fg

Afternoon Session: https://youtube.com/live/B24smqHdL5w

 

The conference will be held in Italian.

Admission is free while seats last.

 

PROGRAMME
Morning Session

 

10:00 – Institutional Greetings
Introduction: Caterina d’Amico

• Lucia Mannini: Umberto Brunelleschi, Costume Designer between Paris and Florence. A Touch of Lightness and a Touch of Colour
• Licia Triolo: The Training of Gino Carlo Sensani, “Florentine by Choice”

 

11:30 – 12:00: Coffee Break

 

12:00 – Introduction and moderation by Renzo Guardenti

• Manuel Rossi: The Role of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Testimony)
• Maria Alberti: Maria De Matteis (1898–1988): Florence, Rome, Hollywood
• Maria Ida Biggi: Dario Cecchi, Costume Designer for Theatre and Cinema

 

13:30 – 14:30: Lunch Break

 

Afternoon Session

 

14:30 – Introduction and moderation by Renzo Guardenti

• Fabrizio Pompei: L’Accademia di Belle Arti (testimony)
• Gabriella Pescucci: L’Istituto d’Arte di Porta Romana (testimony)
• Renzo Guardenti: Zeffirelli and Theatrical Costume: Between Figurative Models, Invention and Directorial Practice
• Ivana D’Agostino: The Art-Historical Approach to Costume by Anna Anni
• Caterina d’Amico: Piero Tosi. Profession: Forger

 

16:00 – 16:30: Coffee Break

 

16:30 – Introduction and moderation by Renzo Guardenti

• Jacopo Peruzzi: Costumi d’Arte Peruzzi (testimony)
• Diego Fiorini: Casa d’Arte Cerratelli (testimony)
• Paolo Larici: Elena Mannini: Dressing the Theatre
• Bruna Niccoli: Creative Souls Following the Florentine Masters. Designs by Women Costume Designers of the Second Half of the Twentieth Century

 

Ore 18.00 – Conclusions