Best events in Florence this week March 27-April 3, 2025

Caravaggio and the 20th century – Roberto Longhi, Anna Banti

Cristina Acidini and Claudio Paolini curate an intriguing exhibition around the couple – the art historian and writer/translator – and the circle of artists and intellectuals they brought together. Visitors are treated to Caravaggio’s Boy Bitten by a Lizard, the Apostles by Jusepe de Ribera, as well as the 40-plus paintings, drawings, photographs and documents that testify to the couple’s frequentations of esteemed literary figures and artists such as Ungaretti, Pratolini, Gadda, de Pisis, Guttuso and Mafai.

Firenze in Arte

On March 29+30, piazza del Carmine in the Oltrarno hosts artisanal excellence as part of days dedicated to celebrating local craftsmanship, titled Firenze in Arte. With the aim of involving both locals and international visitors in celebrating Florentine craftsmanship, booths display the creations by each artisan and offer the chance for visitors to dive deeper into learning about the work involved. Taking place from 10am to 8pm on both days, expect live demonstrations, workshops, historical re-enactments, and creative spaces where artisans present and share their works, organized by CNA Firenze Metropolitana with Associazione Garbo Firenze and the collaboration of Q1. There’s also attention paid to solidarity and social issues, and entertainment in the form of games and activities for little ones.

Settimana del Fiorentino

Florence celebrates its ‘New Year’ with a long lineup of cultural events, including a costumed parade, guided tours, talks in local libraries, and workshops at many of the city’s main monuments.

Andrea Tofanelli and the Firenze All Star Jazz Band

At 8.30pm on March 28, the Italian trumpet virtuoso Andrea Tofanelli is accompanied by the Firenze All Star Jazz Band to perform much-loved music by Count Basie, Sammy Nestico, Thad Jones and many others. Free concert by reservation to celebrate the second half of the FirenzeOnStage international programme: email teatroniccolini@firenzeonstage.com.

Shakira-inspired menu + music

Shakira joins forces with Hard Rock Cafe for international women’s month, consisting of a special menu with the pop star’s favourite dishes, like a Hips Don’t Lie cocktail (based on silver tequila with elderflower liquer, strawberries and cucumber), with part of the proceeds donated to educating young girls in Colombia via the Pies Descalzos Foundation. The partnership seeks to promote female empowerment through the unifying power of music with performances held across the month. Living Theory play hits by Linkin Park from 9pm on March 28.

Florence Korea Film Fest

The Florence Korea Film Fest comes to Cinema La Compagnia from March 20-29, with the 23rd edition including an homage to the director Na Hong-jin through masterclasses and screenings, with online screenings available for those unable to make the festival. A leader in the Korean noir genre, his 2008 thriller, The Chaser forms part of the lineup, as well as The Wailing, a horror centred around an elderly man in a quiet rural village.

Primavera Fiesolana

Featuring Roberto Cacciapaglia, Paolo Rumiz, Matthias Martelli in the role of Dario Fo and Simona Molinari, the all-encompassing arts festival combines music, theatre, cinema and more until April 16.

Tracey Emin: Sex and Solitude

The first major institutional exhibition in Italy dedicated to one of the most celebrated British contemporary artists brings together paintings, drawings, film, photography, embroidery, appliqué, sculptures and neon installations, with the themes of sex and solitude underpinning the 60 works on display.

Imperfect Prints

Brevissime: Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke, Earl of Leicester will be a guest of the Brevissime series in the Antonio Paolucci Auditorium of the Uffizi Galleries, discussing Holkham Hall and the past and present of a great English home. Already the owner of the famous Da Vinci Code, now in the Bill Gates collection, his Palladian home in Norfolk hosts many masterpieces, including works by Rubens, Van Dyck, Gaspard Poussin, Claude Lorrain, Thomas Gainsborough, Batoni, Vanvitelli, Guardi and Bastiano da Sangallo.

Thomas J Price

A large-scale figurative sculpture will be placed in piazza della Signoria from March 14 to September 14, standing 3.6 metres tall in dialogue with the historical works. Museo Novecento and Palazzo Vecchio dive deeper into his artistic career from March 14 to June 11, drawing our attention to how and why things are made, with references to ancient, classical and neoclassical sculpture.

Dial Dialogue Dial

Ondo presents an exhibition project conceived as a dialogue between the practices of Sara Ravelli and Melanie Ebenhoch in response to the embroidered work Torna La Dea al Suo Tempio (1944) by Maria Morino Savinio. Visits by appointment: ciao@ondo-spazio.com

Pubblico

The free admission contemporary art exhibition hosted in the B9 building sees works by Giovanna Graniero, Gabriele Hoxha, Milo Maricelli, Demis Rosa, Nina Silvestri and Chiara Siddu; artists undertaking residencies that began last December. The former factory hosts the works alongside pieces by Zeno Festi, Sara Giacomelli, Francesco Maggiora, Bianca Migliorini and Gaia Lupo. Five ateliers form the exhibition itinerary that are usually reserved for individual research. The exhibition explores the role of the artist in contemporary society, considering artistic communities and their work environments as assets of collective interest. A weekly calendar of dialogues with the artists commences on March 19. Open Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 7pm, free admission.

Marion Baruch - Un passo avanti tanti dietro

Curated by Sergio Risaliti and Stefania Rispoli, the multifaceted career of the tireless artist born in Timisoara, Romania in 1929 is retraced, with her living and breathing textiles flowing across the exhibition space. Created using fabric scraps, her sculpture installations treat themes of identity, the patriarchy, the internet and our consumer society. The exhibition extends to Manifattura Tabacchi in collaboration with Polimoda, where environmental textile installations created from industrial textile waste play with the dichotomies of presence and absence, colour and transparency, while exploring emptiness as a space of freedom.

Inside Matisse

An immersive exhibition displays Matisse’s masterpieces all around you as the former church is cast in the colours, lights and scenes that were much loved by the French visual artist.

Messaggere

Inaugurated on the occasion of International Women’s Day on March 8 and on show until June 8, works by Chiara Baima Poma, Fatima Bianchi, Lucia Cantò, Parul B. Thacker and Tuli Mekondjo investigate the relationship between art and spirituality across their diverse means of expression.

Speaking Through Colour

This spring, the works of talented local Anglo-Florentine artist John Griffiths (1970-2015) will be displayed alongside paintings by leading female Abstract Expressionists from The Levett Collection in the ground-floor exhibition space at The British Institute of Florence.