Florence to host exhibition on Carlo Lorenzini, creator of Pinocchio

A new exhibition titled ‘C’era una volta, Un Re, Carlo Lorenzini detto Collodi tra satira, giornalismo e letteratura per l’infanzia’ will be held in Florence to commemorate the bicentenary of the author's birth. The project is a collaboration between the Gabinetto Scientifico Letterario Vieusseux, the National Committee for the celebrations of Carlo Collodi's bicentenary, the Collodi Foundation, and the Dante Alighieri Society.

Scheduled to run from October 15, 2026, to June 15, 2027, at the Archivio Contemporaneo Alessandro Bonsanti within Palazzo Corsini Suarez, the exhibition aims to present a portrait of Lorenzini that extends beyond his fame as the creator of Pinocchio. The curation, led by Elisa Martini and Benedetta Gallerini, seeks to highlight his roles as a journalist and a sharp observer of 19th-century social and political dynamics, using his literary work as a mirror of the Italian reality of his time.