Overview: 227 items including drawings and color sketches for stage designs, model stage sets, costume designs, playbills, and posters, dating from the 16th to the early 20th century, were on loan from the Museo Teatrale alla Scala in Milan. These materials had never before been seen in the United States. They reflected the evolution of Italian theater design, from the baroque, rococo, neoclassic, and romantic periods to art nouveau.

Organization: The exhibition was organized by the International Exhibitions Foundation to coincide with the opening of the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. William J. Williams and Gaillard Ravenel coordinated and edited the National Gallery exhibition.

Other Venues:

• Detroit Institute of Arts
• Indianapolis Museum of Art
• University Art Museum, Austin, Texas