The Italian Cultural Institute of Prague is hosting the photography exhibition Marcello’s Gaze (Lo sguardo di Marcello) until 17 September, dedicated to the unforgettable Marcello Mastroianni, just over one hundred years after his birth.
A highlight of Prague’s summer cultural calendar, the exhibition was inaugurated on 17 July in the presence of numerous guests, including the Italian Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Mauro Marsili, and the exhibition’s curator, Daniele Luxardo. The exhibition unfolds across both the interior and exterior spaces of the Institute and features a carefully curated selection of 60 large-format photographs, in both black and white and colour, drawn from the Luxardo photographic archive and other major Italian and international archives.
The images retrace key moments in Mastroianni’s extraordinary career, from his first performance alongside the young Sophia Loren — who would go on to become his most iconic on-screen partner — in The Miller’s Beautiful Wife (1955) by Mario Camerini, to his renowned collaborations with directors such as Vittorio De Sica in Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow and Marriage Italian Style, Mauro Bolognini in Il Bell’Antonio with the stunning Claudia Cardinale, and Federico Fellini in La Dolce Vita, 8½, Ginger and Fred. The exhibition devotes special attention to the unique bond between Mastroianni and Fellini, exploring their artistic partnership which defined an era of Italian and international cinema. In addition to film stills, the exhibition also includes photographs of Mastroianni in the later years of his career, marked by greater maturity and depth. These images capture the actor in complex, introspective roles under the direction of filmmakers such as Lattuada, Cavani, and Scola.
The exhibition is organised by the Italian Cultural Institute of Prague under the patronage of the Italian Embassy in the Czech Republic, and forms part of Fare Cinema 2025 — the annual programme dedicated to Italian cinema and its film industry, promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture.
