Franco Zeffirelli, real name Gianfranco Corsi, was a director with a career spanning almost 70 years. He worked equally for theatre, opera and film and left behind a comprehensive documentation of his productions. The exhibition comprises over 300 works, including designs for stage sets, costume sketches, models and costumes created by the master over a seventy-year career in theatre and film. The crowning glory of the tour is the Sala dell’Inferno, the Hall of Hell. Here, a short film shot in full HD is projected with the animated drawings created by the master to give shape to his personal vision of hell from Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. In addition to the permanent exhibition, there are regular temporary exhibitions dedicated to important artists from all over the world.
The Franco Zeffirelli International Centre for the Performing Arts, which was supported by the maestro himself, leaves his city and the world the entire artistic and cultural legacy of his almost 70-year career.
An extraordinary heritage – classified as "of particular historical interest" by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Assets and Heritage – includes all his documents, from drawings to studies for theatrical and cinematographic sets, from director’s notes to scripts, from set photos to correspondence and press releases, to testimonies of his work in the world of international theatre and cinema, from the post-war period to the present day.
The museum begins along the staircase with a tribute to the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino opera festival. It recalls the historic productions of William Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida – Franco Zeffirelli’s debut in scenography for the director Luchino Visconti (1949). The museum’s entrance corridor is dedicated to Euridice.
The photo exhibition Zeffirelli’s Celebrities with portraits of the divas and stars who have worked with Franco Zeffirelli in the 70 years of his artistic career is also part of the permanent exhibition.
By providing the archive, library and museum, the Franco Zeffirelli International Centre for the Performing Arts offers exhibition and educational activities, promotes the culture of show business and trains students in the disciplines of theatre, opera and cinema – in Florence, a cradle of culture for centuries. The centre offers a hall for concerts and film screenings, classrooms and workshops.
Tuesday – Sunday: 10-18 h
Closed: Mondays
Last admission 60 minutes before closing time
A ticket reservation is not necessary. Just bring your Florence City Pass with you and show it at the ticket office.
But the entrance ticket to the Franco Zeffirelli Museum is worth more. Keep your card and on presentation you will receive €3 off the purchase of a ticket for Palazzo Strozzi.
The Zeffirelli Museum and the Zeffirelli Foundation are located in the San Firenze Complex in Piazza San Firenze n.5, a few steps from Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria.
You can reach them on foot from Santa Maria Novella station in about 10 minutes.
You can also reach the Zeffirelli Museum by bus C2 departing from Santa Maria Novella station. The nearest stop is Ghibellina-Bargello.
Piazza di S. Firenze 5
50122 Firenze FI
Italy
Click here
to see on google maps
Experience the Museo Franco Zeffirelli with the >> Florence City Pass
Free admission to Florence's museums, attractions, and tours. Discounts included.
incl. VAT and service fees, free shipping via e-mail
