From 27 October 2023 to 7 April 2024 the Museo degli Innocenti will host the first exhibition in Florence dedicated to Alphonse Mucha , the most important Czech artist, father of Art Nouveau and creator of iconic images.

Alphonse Mucha was born in Ivancice, in the Czech Republic, in 1860. A fervent patriot and supporter of the political freedom of the Slavic peoples, he dedicated himself to art and in 1887 he moved to Paris where he refined his arts and met the woman who would change the world forever his life, Sarah Bernhardt, the most beautiful and famous actress of the time, who entrusted her image to Mucha, making him extremely popular.

The myth of the "Mucha women" was born, and companies competed for it to advertise their products, giving life to timeless advertising campaigns such as that of Nestlé chocolate, Moët & Chandon champagne, and even cigarettes, beer, biscuits and perfumes.

Mucha, however, does not forget his patriotic and social commitment. In 1910 he returned to Prague and dedicated himself for almost twenty years to what is considered his greatest masterpiece, the Slavic Epic, a colossal work composed of twenty enormous canvases in which he recounts the main events of Slavic history. Mucha died in Prague in 1939.

Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, Paris was considered the center of the art world. It is the so-called Belle Époque, there is great enthusiasm, and Alphonse Mucha, also thanks to his meeting with Sara Bernhardt, becomes the most famous and disputed artist of the time. His works, illustrations, theatrical posters and nascent advertising are accessible to all. With him a new form of communication was born: the beauty of flowering girls, portrayed in a unique mix of sacred and profane, voluptuous and seductive figures, represented with a unique compositional style, have become characteristics of the famous "Mucha style". His images immediately become famous throughout the world, his style is the most imitated, the powerful beauty of his women enters everyone's collective imagination.