The Enigma of De Chirico
Theatre Designs for The Puritans at the First Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

exhibition catalogue: 1933. De Chirico al I Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Florence, Palazzo Strozzi, 1 May-22June 2010

edited by James M. Bradburne

The catalogue for the “1933. De Chirico al I Maggio Musicale Fiorentino” exhibition (Florence, Palazzo Strozzi, 1 May–22 June 2010) presents a less-known aspect of De Chirico’s art. For the first Maggio Musicale Fiorentino staged in 1933, the master created the preliminary sketches, models and drawings for the props for Vincenzo Bellini’s opera I Puritani. These beautiful drawings, executed in mixed technique, clearly show the artist’s metaphysical language and his stylistic and formal choices, which led to a radical change in the approach to stage design. His sensational choices caused an uproar: one of the preliminary drawings was even rejected and the work was never completed. The publication revolves around a conversation about the sketches, with the participation of Paolo Baldacci and Gerd Roos, curators of the exhibition entitled “De Chirico, Max Ernst, Magritte, Balthus. A Look into the Invisible”; Moreno Bucci, curator of the Historical Archives of the Teatro del Maggio Musicale; the architect and designer Luigi Cupellini; the director and dramatist Federico Tiezzi; the composer, director, set designer and costume designer Sylvano Bussotti; and—as moderators—art historian Ludovica Sebregondi and James Bradburne, director general of the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi.