September 12 – November 30, 2025
The Dancing Faun
Art, Fashion, Dance
“The Faun is the most beautiful statue ever found”
Massimiliano Soldani Benzi to the Prince of Liechtenstein (Johann Adam Andreas I), 1695
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The juxtaposition of Baroque porcelain, bronze, and plaster with haute couture fabrics gives rise to the exhibition “THE DANCING FAUN | Art, Fashion, Dance,” which, at the House Museum fo the Paolo and Carolina Zani Foundation, celebrates the intersection of fashion and sculpture through the common thread of dance.
The project, curated by Massimiliano Capella and Cristina Maritano, with the collaboration of Giovanni Carlo Federico Villa and Mario Brancati, brings together four sculptural examples of the Dancing Faun, alongside a selection of stage costumes designed by legendary artists, couturiers, and costume designers, from Pablo Picasso to Roberto Capucci, and worn by legends of international ballet such as Carla Fracci, Roberto Bolle, and Rudolf Nureyev.
In the room dedicated to temporary exhibitions, the Dancing Faun (ca. 1748) from the Turin collections of Palazzo Madama is the linchpin from which the story unfolds of the iconographic fortune of a model, that of the Satyr with Kroupezion, one of the subjects most appreciated by scholars of antiquity between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The work, in hard porcelain, was modeled after a Roman marble from the 1st century BC, preserved in the Tribuna of Florence (original nucleus of the Uffizi Museum), itself a replica of a Hellenistic example from the 2nd century BC.
The sculpture—composed of multiple parts, modeled, fired, and glazed separately, with the joints concealed by elements such as the armbands or the wreath of branches and leaves encircling the hips—recalls the Florence of Cosimo III de’ Medici, when the issue of protecting the works in the Tribuna arose, as they were constantly handled to make casts. After experimenting with porcelain production techniques developed by the Meissen factories, the Ginori Manufactory, founded in 1737 by Marchese Carlo on the Doccia estate in Sesto Fiorentino, just outside Florence, began translating the ancient statues from the Medici collections into white porcelain and at full scale.
Taken from ancient Roman marble, and known as “De’ Medici” because it passed through the Medici collection, the large Dancing Satyr is a life-size alabaster plaster cast from the Omero Museum in Ancona. This modern work allows us to understand the subtlest features and anatomical details of the ancient specimen.
The life-size dimensions and the anatomical emphasis on muscle torsion and facial expression accentuate the naturalistic rendering typical of Hellenism. Like the other pieces on display, he holds cymbals—musical instruments composed of bronze discs to be struck together—in his hand, while his right leg rests on the kroupezion, the wooden sandal that marked the time in dance thanks to a small metal plate attached to the sole. The Ginori Manufactory also produced smaller-scale examples of these sculptures, intended for travelers on the Grand Tour, popular among the nobility and bourgeoisie of the time. This is the case of the Faun Playing the Catubas (also known as the Dancing Faun) from the Richard Ginori Museum Archive at the Doccia Manufactory. The plaster work features the typical “cut” breaks necessary for its subsequent translation into porcelain.
Beginning in the 17th century, full-scale bronze versions of the Faun began to be made, while from the 1820s onwards, smaller bronze reproductions of the Tribuna statues also proliferated. This gave rise to the successful phenomenon of bronzes d’ameublements, small bronzes intended for domestic use. The Dancing Faun (first half of the 18th century) from the Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica, Palazzo Barberini, and Galleria Corsini in Rome belongs to this category. Despite its familiar iconographic characteristics, the work exhibits slight differences from the ancient models, evident in the softer lines of the muscles and hair and the restrained pathos of the face. The temporary exhibition is accompanied by a catalog published by the Paolo and Carolina Zani Foundation.
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PICASSO, CAPUCCI, FRACCI, BOLLE: HIGH FASHION MEETS DANCE
The permanent exhibition of the House Museum hosts, for the exceptional occasion of the exhibition, a selection of stage costumes worn by international ballet stars—Rudolf Nureyev, Carla Fracci, Gheorghe Iancu, Alessandra Ferri, Roberto Bolle, and Denis Ganio—designed by equally legendary artists, couturiers, and costume designers.
In keeping with the exhibition’s title theme, the exhibition begins with the Costumes of the Faun and the Nymph for L’Après-midi d’un faune, which Léon Bakst—the renowned Russian painter, set designer, and costume designer—designed in 1912 for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. These costumes were worn by Carla Fracci and Gheorghe Iancu in a revival of the ballet in 1983. A few years later, in 1986, the two dance icons were dressed by one of Italy’s greatest designers, Roberto Capucci, for Romeo and Juliet, performed at the Verona Arena. Fracci, a dance icon who in 1981 had already donned the role of Shakespeare’s heroine opposite the legendary Rudolf Nureyev’s Romeo (the exhibition features costumes by Ezio Frigerio and Mauro Pagano for the production at La Scala), returned in 1987 to dance to the tune of The Firebird in the film The Balerinas, wearing costumes designed by Bakst. Fracci also wore Luisa Spinatelli‘s costume in Nijinsky: Memories of Youth, in 1989, while her costume for Proserpina, designed by Carlo Savi, for Orfeo at the Palazzo Ducale in Mantua, dates back to 1990.
A founding father of Cubism, Pablo Picasso designed the Chinese Costume for Parade, worn by Denis Ganio to the music of Stravinsky. Roberto Bolle wore the role of Louis XIV, the Sun King, designed by costume designer Elena Mola, while Tatiana’s Costumes for Onegin (1992) were designed by Pierluigi Samaritani and Roberta Guidi di Bagno for Alessandra Ferri, prima ballerina assoluta at La Scala. The dresses on display, true works of art, come from the archives of Mario Brancati and the Compagnia italiana Della Moda e del Costume of Milan.
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AROUND THE DANCING FAUN
Lectures, tours, and exclusive workshops to discover the temporary exhibition at the Casa Museo Zani
(Auditorium Casa Museo Fondazione Zani)
October 18, 2025, 4:00 PM
The Dancing Faun of Palazzo Madama and Doccia Porcelain
Cristina Maritano, Palazzo Madama, Turin
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October 25, 2025, 4:00 PM
The Myth of the Faun between Art and Literature
Arnaldo Colasanti, IULM University, Milan
November 8, 2025, 4:00 PM
Fashion that Dances. From Sartoria Brancato to the Italian Fashion and Costume Company
Mario Brancati, Italian Fashion and Costume Company, Milan Massimiliano Capella, Paolo and Carolina Zani Foundation, Cellatica (BS)
November 15, 2025, 4:00 PM
The Faun and the Nymph. The Success of an Ancient Dance Gesture
Francesca Morandini, Civic Museums of Verona
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Educational workshops and thematic itineraries for families
“I Trust You” an experiential and sensory workshop for families in the garden of the House Museum.
September 20, October 11, 2025 – 3:00 PM
An activity designed for families. A tactile and emotional journey in which first the children, and then their parents, blindfolded, are guided through paths, vases, wells, and works of art. In this sensory exploration, the language of touch becomes the guiding thread and trust the only true guidance.
THE DANCING FAUN | Between Nature, Music, and Vitality, in collaboration with the Zero Negativo Theater Association (theater workshop for families)
October 4, 2025 – 3:00 PM
Theatre is a true “placenta” in which to grow and, at the same time, protect art as a source of expression that humans can use to rediscover themselves and others.
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“Art with Your Eyes Closed,” an educational workshop for families
October 26, 2025 – 3:00 PM
This activity takes participants on a unique experience, where sight gives way to touch to rediscover art in a profound and personal way. After visiting the exhibition, families, partially blindfolded, will be invited to reimagine the figure of the faun, drawing on their newly acquired tactile memory. This is an opportunity to develop body awareness, artistic sensitivity, and freedom of expression.
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“White as… Porcelain” an educational workshop for families
November 9, 2025 – 3:00 PM
Marco Polo’s 13th-century tales already mentioned porcelain, but its composition remained a mystery in Europe for a long time. What is certain is that since its origins, it has been considered a precious material, so much so that it was called “white gold.” Families will be able to experience the beauty and delicacy of this extraordinary material firsthand.
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For information and reservations: 0302520479 or info@fondazionezani.com