Ahead of the major anniversary in 2024, a hundred years since the death of Eleonora Duse (1858-1924), the Institute of Theatre and Opera, is staging a photographic exhibition featuring the great Italian diva. Curated by Maria Ida Biggi and Marianna Zannoni, the exhibition project has drawn on the rich photographic collection in the Duse Archive held by the Fondazione Giorgio Cini. The collection contains original prints by several famous photographers of the time, leading exponents of Italian and international photography, testifying to the charm that Duse exerted over her contemporaries. This exhibition is the first in a series of shows to be held in Eleonora Duse’s Room, each aimed at exploring a specific aspect of Eleonora Duse’s biography and career: her relationship with Venice and the Veneto region (2022), her success in Italy and the national theatre context (2023) and her international reputation (2024).

Alongside photographic prints showing the actress in private portraits and costumed stage poses, visitors will be able to admire a selection of her personal objects and papers and reconstruct her relations with the city of Venice and the entire Veneto region. Duse’s family was originally from Chioggia, her grandfather Luigi, also an actor, founded the Teatro Duse in Padua and, at the end of her itinerant life, she chose Asolo, as her place of residence.