Vittoria Crespi Morbio

Extremely powerful, feared, and respected under the Fascist regime, Cipriano Efisio Oppo (1891-1962) was almost forgotten after the war, and today his name and his work are scarcely known. He was harmed by his political credo that led him to become a deputy in Parliament and director of the Quadriennale romana, a tireless organiser of events. Yet Oppo was a complex, many-sided figure, willing to promote ‘rebellious’ artists and developing a poetics including his theatre work as scenographer and costume designer that remains a legacy worthy of attention. His stagings at La Scala, in Rome, in Florence, partake of the tradition of Italian painting and assert an Olympian serenity, unperturbed before the tragedies of History.