Maria Signorelli (Rome, 17 November 1908 – Rome, 9 July 1992) was an Italian

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...

master known for her creations as well as for her sets and costume designs, and valuable

collection Collection or Collections may refer to: * Cash collection, the function of an accounts receivable department * Collection (church), money donated by the congregation during a church service * Collection agency, agency to collect cash * Collectio ...

of puppets.

Biography

Maria Signorelli was the first of three daughters born to the

radiologist Radiology ( ) is the medical discipline that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide their treatment, within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiatio ...

and

art collector A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...

Angelo Signorelli (1876-1952) and Olga Resnevič (1883-1973), a Latvian physician and writer, translator of

Fydor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

, and writer of the first biography about Italian actor

Eleonora Duse Eleonora Giulia Amalia Duse ( , ; 3 October 185821 April 1924), often known simply as Duse, was an Italian actress, rated by many as the greatest of her time. She performed in many countries, notably in the plays of Gabriele d'Annunzio and Hen ...

. Maria grew up in a stimulating family environment, in close contact with the artists and patrons of theater and literature who often frequented the family home in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Signorelli's father made a habit of helping young artists, taking care of them for free and purchasing or subsidizing their works. He was also one of the main financiers of the Teatro dei Piccoli, led by Vittorio Podrecca, who specialized in the use of puppets and who later became a collaborator protecting Maria Signorelli's valuable puppet collection.

Education

After completing her classical studies, Maria enrolled in the

Accademia di Belle Arti This is a list of the tertiary-level schools or academies of fine art in Italy that are recognised by the Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca, the Italian ministry of higher education. Accademie di Belle Arti The offic ...

of Rome and began to attend the

scenography Scenography (inclusive of scenic design, lighting design, sound design, costume design) is a practice of crafting stage environments or atmospheres. In the contemporary English usage, scenography is the combination of technological and material st ...

studio of the Royal Theater, directed at that time by Nicola Benois. Maria's passion for drawing, color, and theater led her to create her first puppets, soft sculptures that were exhibited for the first time in 1929 at the Casa d'Arte by

Anton Giulio Bragaglia __NOTOC__ Anton Giulio Bragaglia (11 February 1890 – 15 July 1960) was a pioneer in Italian Futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty ...

. A subsequent exhibition was held at the Galleria Zak in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, presented by

de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( , ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the '' scuola metafisica'' art movement, which profoundly influ ...

, followed a long stay in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

where her work was the subject of yet another exhibition at the Galeria Gurlitt. In 1939 Maria married the educator Luigi Volpicelli and they had at least one child, Giuseppina Volpicelli, who later became the caretaker of her mother's collection and arranged numerous exhibitions of her work. In 1947 Maria Signorelli founded her own company L'Opera dei Burattini, whose actors, painters, scene designers, composers and filmmakers collaborated over time, bringing life to a poetic repertoire.

Performances

For radio audiences, she organized and conducted several broadcasts (''Perpetual motion'', 1953-54; ''Giochiamo al teatro'', 1967-68) and television shows (''Gala evening at the Teatro dei Burattini'', 1958; ''Little magical world'', 1959; ''Afternoon at the Opera'', 1960).

Death

Maria Signorelli died in Rome on 9 July 1992.

The Maria Signorelli collection

Collecting became a passion for Signorelli, and her collection, in turn, allowed her to set up exhibitions in Italy and abroad to display puppetry for all ages. Over many years, she built one of the most important private collections in Europe, made up of thousands of pieces, some made by herself and some from others all over the world: puppets, silhouettes for shadow shows, Sicilian puppets, dolls, rolls of scenarios, placards and posters, slides, photographs, games, kites, scripts, musical scores and various documents.

Selected exhibitions

Signorelli's work was the subject of numerous exhibitions in Italy and around the world. * ''Plastic figures by Maria Signorelli'', Casa d'Arte Bragaglia, Rome 1929 * ''Les phantoms of M. Signorelli'', Galerie Zak, Paris 1930 *''Maria Signorelli'', Galerie Gurlitt, Berlin 1932 * ''Maria Signorelli'' Art Room of "La Nazione", Florence 1933 *''35th Exhibition of the Amici dell'Arte'' - silver medal-, Turin 1934 *''Exposition Italian escenotecnica'' (by A.G. Bragaglia), Buenos Aires 1935 *''Littoriali art exhibition,'' Rome 1935 *''VI Triennale,'' Milan 1936 *''Exhibition of the female artists of Europe'', Paris 1937 *''Exhibition of figurines and scenographers,'' Florence 1942 *''Exhibition International scenography'' promoted by the magazine "''Teatro,"'' Rome 1946 *''Italian scenography exhibition,'' Bern 1947 *''Italian scenography abroad,'' Brussels 1951 (edited by E. Prampolini) * ''Exhibition of Figurative Arts and Contemporary Artists'', Rome 1958

Selected publications

She was an author of several books, including the following. * ''The child and the theater'' (translated by Myrtha Alicia Roquette) Buenos Aires (1963) * ''The puppeteer game'' (1975) * ''Homemade musical instruments'' (1977) * ''History and technique of the shadow theater'' (1981)

References

External sources

* Patrizia Veroli and Giuseppina Volpicelli, ''Marionettes and scenic materials from the Signorelli Collection'', Bologna, Bora, 2006. * Gabriella Manna (ed.), ''The Prince and his Shadow Puppets and Marionettes between East and West'' from the Collection of Maria Signorelli, Rome, Gangemi publisher, 2014, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Signorelli, Maria 1908 births 1992 deaths 20th-century Italian women artists Artists from Rome Italian collectors Women collectors Collectors Puppet designers