Brother Sun, Sister Moon. Danilo Donati’s Costumes

From October 4 to November 30, 2024
Cost: Access to the exhibition is included with the Museum admission ticket

From October 4 to November 30, 2024, the music hall of the Zeffirelli Foundation will host an exhibition of costumes designed by Danilo Donati for Franco Zeffirelli’s film Brother Sun, Sister Moon.

The exhibit, organized by the President of the Zeffirelli Foundation, Pippo Zeffirelli, in collaboration with the director of the Cerratelli Foundation, Diego Fiorini, will showcase over 70 original costumes worn during the filming of Brother Sun, Sister Moon, the 1972 film directed by Franco Zeffirelli, starring Graham Faulkner, Judi Bowker, Alec Guinness and Valentina Cortese. These costumes were created by Casa d’Arte Cerratelli. The robe worn by Graham Faulkner in the film’s scenes has been faithfully reproduced by the Franco Zeffirelli Foundation for the exhibition, as the original costume designed by Danilo Donati has been lost.

For the first time, after more than 50 years, Danilo Donati’s stage costumes will be on display to the public in a single exhibition that brings together the most significant elements of the entire production, thanks to the collaboration of Casa d’Arte Cerratelli and the contribution of Gelsi, Costumi d’Arte.

The costumes on display pay tribute to the great costume designer Danilo Donati, who won an Oscar for his work on Romeo & Juliet by Franco Zeffirelli.

The film Brother Sun, Sister Moon was released in Italy on March 3, 1972, earning Franco Zeffirelli the David di Donatello award for Best Director and an Academy Award nomination for Best Director.

DANILO DONATI

Danilo Donati was born in Luzzara, in the province of Reggio Emilia, in 1926. Along with Piero Tosi, he is considered one of the greatest costume designers of the twentieth century. Practically contemporaries, Donati and Tosi became friends in the immediate post-war period while attending the Istituto d’Arte di Porta Romana in Florence, though in different courses: Donati was a painting student under Ottone Rosai, and Tosi studied scenography under Gianni Vagnetti.

Their professional careers began with both collaborating with Luchino Visconti, to whom they had been introduced by Franco Zeffirelli, who had met and admired them in Florence. Zeffirelli, more enterprising than they, was the first to move to Rome, joining the Italian Prose Company directed by Visconti. After a brief apprenticeship as set and costume assistants for Visconti’s theatrical productions, both Donati and Tosi shifted their focus mainly to film costumes, each developing a unique style: Donati’s imaginative approach contrasted with Tosi’s more historical accuracy.

Between 1957 and 1972, before becoming the preferred costume designer for Pasolini and Fellini, Donati worked several times with Zeffirelli, designing costumes for two operas, three theatrical productions, and three films, including Romeo and Juliet, which earned him the first of his two Academy Awards. Donati also collaborated with Zeffirelli on several unrealized projects.

The temporary exhibition is accessible with the full-priced admission ticket to the Zeffirelli Museum. No discounts are available.

On Sunday, October 6, and Sunday, November 3, residents of the metropolitan city will be able to visit the Zeffirelli Museum for free. However, the temporary exhibition Brother Sun, Sister Moon: The Costumes of Danilo Donati will still require a full-priced Museum ticket.